Zarfiarias, Christian
Zarfiarias, Christian
Zarfiarias, Christian, German pianist and conductor; b. Tamshedpur, India (of German parents), April 27, 1950. He was taken to Germany as an infant and began piano lessons at an early age. He was a student of Irène Slavin at the Karlsruhe Hochschule für Musik (1960-69), and then of Perlemuter in Paris. In 1969 he took 2nd prize in the Geneva Competition, in 1973 2nd prize in the Van Cliburn Competition, and in 1975 the Ravel Prize in the European Broadcasting Union Competition. In 1976 he made his London debut. He made his U.S. debut as a soloist with the Boston Sym. Orch. in 1979. In 1981 he made his Salzburg Festival debut as soloist in the Mozart Concerto, K.453. In subsequent years, he toured throughout the world in a repertoire extending from Mozart to the moderns. He also pursued a career as a conductor. In 2000 he became artistic director and principal conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orch.
—Nicholas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire