Alexej Gorlatch was the winner  in the piano category at the 2011 ARD Music Competition. His interpretation of Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto not only convinced the high-ranking jury, but also the audience, bringing him both a first prize and the audience prize.

Alexej Gorlatch was born in 1988 in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and has lived in Germany since 1991. At the age of twelve he became a junior student at the University of the Arts in Berlin where he studied with Martin Hughes; from 2002 to 2007 he studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling in Hanover. After graduating from secondary school, he now continues his music studies there.

The ARD Music Competition took place for the first time in 1952 in Munich, where it is still put on every year by Bavarian Radio. For many artists, Munich was the springboard to their international careers. Among the prize winners, we find household names such as Jessye Norman, Thomas Quasthoff, Maurice André, Sol Gabetta, the Tokyo String Quartet, Yuri Bahmet, François Leleux, the Quatuor Ébène and many others.

“Gorlatch has a dramatic flair and the courage to take risks. His lively, agogically flexible performance style had many colors, and his cadenza in the first movement was downright thrilling.” - Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Alexej Gorlatch...knew how to use his darling interpretation of Beethoven’s C minor Piano Concerto sweep the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Sebastian Terwinkel into such a frenzy that the musicians obviously (and audibly) allowed themselves to be forced to play their music almost at the edge of their seats.” - Der Tagesspiegel

" ...frenetic, unending applause for his dramatically accented performance, his daredevil cadenza in the first movement, the eloquent large and the urgency of the concluding rondo. He had to take one bow after another.“ - Piano News

Contents:
- Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37
Live-Recording ARD-Competition, 11.09.2011

- Piano Sonata in F minor, Op.2 No.1
Recording: Bavaria Musikstudios, Munich, 12.10.11