Czech Philharmonic • Madrid

Behzod Abduraimov

piano

Described by The Times as the “master of all he surveys” and with The Washington Post noting to “keep your ear on this one”, Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov’s captivating performances continue to receive international praise. At just 18 years of age, he won the prestigious London International Piano Competition and has since performed with leading orchestras around the world (the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, and others). In recent seasons, he has also collaborated with many prominent conductors, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, Constantinos Carydis, Edward Gardner, Long Yu, Juraj Valčuha, and others. In the fall of 2022, he performed with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – he even recorded this piece in 2020 on the composer’s own piano from Villa Senar in Switzerland for Sony Classical.

The 2025/2026 season, Behzod Abduraimov made a number of notable debuts, including with the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., in both cases under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. Other concert appearances included the Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In terms of recitals, the highlight of the season were his fourth appearance at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium (he made his debut there in 2015), a return to Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and other performances in the United States and Europe. In the past, he has performed in many prestigious international recital series organized by the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, La Società dei Concerti di Milano, and Toppan Hall in Tokyo. He also regularly performs at leading international festivals, including Aspen, La Roque Antheron, Lucerne, Ravello, Rheingau, and Verbier. In September 2025, he opened the Georgian Tsinandali Festival with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. 

Abduraimov’s recordings are highly acclaimed – his 2012 debut recital CD featuring works by Liszt, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev won the prestigious French Choc de Classica and Diapason Découverte awards. He also pays special attention to promoting Uzbek music – on his latest album, Shadows of My Ancestors, released in 2024, he presented, among other things, the work of Uzbek composer Dilorom Saidaminova.

Born in Tashkent in 1990 Behzod began to play the piano at the age of five. He was a pupil of Tamara Popovich at the Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent and studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University, Kansas City, where he is now Artist in Residence and passes on his experience to younger generations of pianists.