Jonathan Biss - About

I’ve never heard of an organisation like this one – whose stated goals are to help nurture the careers of young people in whatever ways they deem important – and I think their mission is a fantastic one. When you are young, you are sometimes pushed in many different directions and having an organisation using its influence (and funds) to help you do what is important for YOU is an incredible thing. Also, for me, as an American, to have a European organisation helping me – monetarily and otherwise – is a huge boost and opens many doors. Being chosen for an award is a great honour in any event, but in many ways competitions strike me as antithetical to the spirit of music. This is the best of both worlds – a wonderful panel of people makes the decisions, but no one suffers for it!

World-renowned American pianist Jonathan Biss is committed to sharing his deep curiosity about music, not only through his powerful performances, but also as an educator, writer, musical thinker, and one of the great Beethoven interpreters of our time. He performs with the world’s leading orchestras and collaborates with its highest-ranking musicians. Jonathan became an Honorary Artistic Committee Member of BBT in 2023.

BBT offered significant support to Jonathan in his early career by way of commissioning a work for solo piano, Wonderer, from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lewis Spratlan which Jonathan premiered in 2006 and went on to tour throughout the US and Europe. BBT also funded PR services in the US and a literary course at Columbia University.  Jonathan participated with his fellow inaugural BBT award winners in an international tour of showcase concerts led by Mitsuko Uchida, at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna and Queen Elizabeth Hall London and also took part in BBT’s 10th anniversary celebrations at London’s Southbank Centre in 2013.

Jonathan was supported with a BBT Award between 2003 and 2008.

For a current biography please visit jonathanbiss.com or kdschmid.de

Read a blog by Jonathan Biss, Learning Isolation from Beethoven, here

Photographs by Benjamin Ealovega