George Fu

piano

Chinese-American pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu has been praised as “one of the most exciting pianists of our time… a deep thinker, thoroughly in command” (The Arts Desk). Recently winning BBC Music Magazine’s 2024 Newcomer Award, he is establishing an international reputation as a fearless and probing interpreter of a wide array of music, combining “stunning virtuosity” (Boston Music Intelligencer) and “phenomenal technique with a profound sense of interpretative clarity” (Apple Music).

George has appeared across the Americas and Europe, appearing at major venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kennedy Center, St Martin In the Fields, the Southbank Centre, and Kings Place. His performances and interviews have been featured on broadcasts around the world, ranging from BBC Radio 3 and National Public Radio, to appearances on PBS/American Public Television and On Stage At Curtis in Philadelphia. Recent highlights include successful solo recital debuts at the Wigmore Hall, as well as the Aldeburgh and Ryedale Festivals.

Highlights of next season include solo recital debuts in New York City (Merkin Hall), Washington DC (Phillips Collection), as well as debut performances at Rudolfinum in Prague and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He will release a second solo album in autumn 2024, Colouring Book, combining the complete cycle of Debussy 12 Études with other playful works by Matthew Aucoin, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, and himself.

As concerto soloist he has performed with National Symphony Orchestra (USA), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. A frequent solo recitalist and chamber musician, George is a founding member of Trio Zimbalist alongside Josef Špaček (violin) and Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin (cello). He enjoys fruitful collaborations with a wide variety of artists such as Roberto Díaz (viola), Dmitri Sitkovetsky (violin), Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin), Mika Sasaki (piano), Liv Redpath (soprano), and Lotte Betts-Dean (mezzo-soprano).

George’s debut solo album, MIRRORS, was released with Platoon Classical to international acclaim, winning BBC Music Magazine’s 2024 Newcomer Award. The album draws on his visionary style of programming, using Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs as a focal point and featuring an eclectic mix of composers: Sergei Rachmaninov, Germaine Tailleferre, Henri Dutilleux, Unsuk Chin, Timo Andres and Freya Waley-Cohen. The album earned a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine: “Fu’s approach is intelligent but fuelled by a deep emotion and understanding of the repertoire… his touch on the keys is barely apparent in the Ravel, with the music flowing gossamer-like.” Gramophone also declared that “Fu’s precise fingerwork cannot be faulted, and his gift for programme-building deserves serious attention”; while International Piano Magazine claimed that “Fu’s fluent and nuanced ‘Barque’ is one of the finest available”.

Born in Washington, D.C., George made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center at the age of 17. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, George studied with Jonathan Biss and Meng-Chieh Liu at the Curtis Institute of Music, and then with Christopher Elton and the Dame Myra Hess Chair of Piano Joanna MacGregor at the Royal Academy of Music, where he currently teaches. He has also worked intensively with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, specifically on the music of Messiaen and Debussy.