Evgeny Kissin entered the Moscow Gnessin School of Music at the age of 6 (class of A.Kantor). He gave his first solo concert at the age of 11, in Moscow and attained international recognition in March 1984, performing Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1985 he performed abroad for the first time – in Eastern Europe, and a year later toured in Japan, and in December 1988 he played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In 1990, he made his debut at the BBC Promenade Concerts in London and, the same year, in the USA, where he performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Z.Mehta followed by a solo concert at Carnegie Hall.

Currently, the musician continues to tour extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia. He has performed with leading orchestras of the world under the direction of such conductors as C. Abbado, V.Ashkenazi, D.Barenboim, C.M.Giulini, J.Levine, L.Maazel and R.Muti.

During the 2017/2018 season, in addition to concerts in Europe, the artist’s piano recitals are planned in New York, Chicago, Washington and Toronto. The pianist will perform for the first time together with the Emerson Quartet in Europe and North America.

Evgeny Kissin has won numerous prestigious awards, among them the “Musician of the Year” Prize from the Chigiana Academy of Music (Italy, 1991), the Triumph Award (Russia, 1997), the Shostakovich Award (Russia, 2003), Herbert von Karajan Award (Germany, 2005), Grammy in the category “Best classical solo performance on a musical instrument” for the performance of works by Scriabin, Medtner and Stravinsky (USA, 2006) and Grammy in the nomination “Best solo instrumental performance with orchestra” for the recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 (2010). He has received the titles of Honorary Doctor of Music, from the Manhattan School of Music, Hong Kong University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. The pianist has made numerous recordings and is featured in Christopher Nupen’s documentary film Evgeny Kissin: "The Gift of Music”, which was released on video in 2000.