Per Tengstrand

Speaker

Pianist Per Tengstrand is celebrated as an electrifying performer. Hailed by critics for his technical brilliance and eloquent interpretations, he has collaborated with renowned orchestras worldwide. Tengstrand's passion for Scandinavian repertoire is evident in his performances and recordings. Notable highlights include his participation in prestigious festivals and receiving awards such as the Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus. Tengstrand also excels as a chamber musician and serves as an artistic director. He resides in Princeton, New Jersey, and forms the Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo with his wife, pianist Shan-shan Sun.

Per Tengstrand has firmly established himself as one of today’s most exciting pianists. He has been described by the Washington Post as “technically resplendent, powerful, intuitively secure,” and by the New York Times as “a superb Swedish pianist” whose recital “was rewarding, both for its unusual programming and for his eloquent, technically polished performances.” He is the subject of a highly acclaimed Swedish documentary entitled Solisten(The Soloist) which was featured at the International Festival of Cinema and Technology in New York City. In 2005, he was decorated by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden with the Royal Medal Litteris et Artibusfor outstanding service to the arts, the youngest recipient ever to be so honored.

Recent career highlights include performing Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 during Neeme Järvi’s final subscription concerts with the New Jersey Philharmonic; performances with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap; the Residentie Orkest in den Haag, under Neeme Järvi; the Royal Philharmonic in Stockholm, under Leonard Slatkin; and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, under Edo de Waart. Tengstrand is in the process of performing and recording the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas for his Mindfeel label.

An advocate of Scandinavian repertoire, Tengstrand inaugurated the Nordic Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia performing Stenhammar’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which he has played in Vienna’s Musikverein with the Tonkunstler Orchestra, under Kristjan Jarvi; for the New Jersey Symphony’s Scandinavian Festival, under Neeme Jarvi; with the Malmö Symphony; at the Tubin Festival with the Estonian National Symphony; and at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm. He also played Stenhammar’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Nordic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen, and on tour in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, under Susanna Malkki. At Salonen’s invitation, Tengstrand performed the maestro’s Dichotomie in the Stockholm Concert Hall, and twice at the Victor Borge Hall in New York. He repeats the Stenhammar Concerto No. 1 with Kristjan Jarvi and the Rotterdam Philharmonic in October 2011.

Per Tengstrand regularly performs with orchestras in Gothenberg, Malmö, Helsingborg, Stockholm, Tapiola, with the Huarod Chamber Orchestra, and Swedish Radio Orchestra. He has appeared as soloist with the Orchestre National de France, French Radio Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra National de Lille, National Symphony of Taiwan, Singapore Symphony, New Japan, and Osaka Philharmonic Orchestras. As recitalist, he has performed internationally in such venues as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Paris’s Salle Gaveau and the Nice Opera House, as well as in Geneva, Bordeaux, Bergen, Norway, the Montpellier Festival, Poland’s Chopin Festival and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall.

Mr. Tengstrand has received numerous honors and awards, including first prize at the 1997 Cleveland International Piano Competition and at the Geneva competition in 1996. He was a Laureate of the Paris International Long-Thibaud Competition, a recipient of the 1997 Anders Wall Foundation Scholarship and was awarded the 1999 Musician Award by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. He studied in Geneva, Paris and Malmö, under Dominique Weber, Romuald Sztern, Dominique Merlet and Hans Pålsson. While at the Paris Conservatory he received the Premier Prix and the Prix Spécial du Jury, and at the Geneva Conservatory he was awarded the Prix de Virtuosité.

Per Tengstrand has served as a juror for the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Princess Astrid Music Prize in Oslo, and as Chairman of the Jury in the Scandinavian Steinway Competition. He is the artistic director of the Helsingborg and Giresta Piano festivals, and Vaxjo Chamber Music Festival, all in Sweden, and, in New York City, the New Nordic Music Festival at Scandinavia House.

Mr. Tengstrand makes his home in Princeton, New Jersey with his wife and collaborator, pianist Shan-shan Sun. They comprise the Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo, which has enjoyed great success following their first prize at the 2003 Murray Dranoff International Two-Piano Competition. The duo has released three CDs on the Mindfeel label, and he has recorded a solo CD for ProPiano of Glazunov’s The Seasons, and his Konzertwalzer (a world premiere).