Masterworks I - Majestic Brahms

American pianist Maxim Lando has been described as a “dazzling fire-eater” (ARTS San Francisco), a “pianist who dares to do things not considered by others” (ConcertNet, The Classical Music Network)  and as “a total musical being” (The New Criterion).  He was lauded by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times as displaying “brilliance and infectious exuberance in his New York debut” combined with “impressive delicacy” and a “wild-eyed danger.”

Maxim first made international headlines performing together with Lang Lang, Chick Corea, and The Philadelphia Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall’s 2017 Opening Night Gala. Since then, he has performed with major orchestras around the world including Pittsburgh Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony, St. Petersburg Symphony, Memphis Symphony,  Kazakh State Philharmonic, Beijing NCPA Orchestra, and many others.

A recipient of the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award, Maxim is also First Prize winner in both the 2022 New York Franz Liszt International Competition and The Vendome Prize 2021/22. He continues to garner international attention on the largest stages, this past year returning to Carnegie Hall to perform Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Gabor Hollerung. As winner of the 2021 Juilliard Concerto Competition, he made his Alice Tully Hall debut performing Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Juilliard Orchestra led by Xian Zhang. In 2020 Maxim was named Musical America’s New Artist of the Month, and in 2018 at the age 16, Maxim won First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. His following sold-out recital debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater included Liszt’s complete Transcendental Etudes and were hailed by the New York Times as a concert “You Won’t Want To Miss!”

Maxim has been featured as a Guest Artist at numerous festivals including Gilmore Piano Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Kissinger Sommer (Germany), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival (Germany), Ravinia Festival, Skaneateles Festival, Rising Stars Munich, Musical Olympus International Festival (Russia), and Samos Young Artist Festival (Greece). Recital highlights include performances at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Carnegie Hall Presents, Symphony Hall in Shenzhen, Chicago’s Millennium Park, Lied Center of Kansas, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, GRAMMY Salute to Classical Music, and University of Georgia Athens Presents. He was invited by Lang Lang to perform for the historic opening of Steinway and Sons in Beijing, and performed Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto for an outdoor audience of 50,000 people with Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison, Wisconsin.

Maxim partners frequently with violinist Daniel Hope, and is passionate about chamber music and unusual repertoire. He has collaborated with Lynn Harrell, Julian Rachlin, and the Danish String Quartet among others, and plays regularly with Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York City. His CD “Into Madness” with German violinist Tassilo Probst, was recorded by Bavarian Radio on Berlin Classics and released this past August. The double album continues to receive the highest critical acclaim, with Radio Bremen Zwei announcing “Two 19-year-old newcomers are stirring up the world of classical music.”

Dedicated to making classical music accessible to his own generation, Maxim has been featured on CNN’s Best of Quest, NPR, BBC Radio 4, WQXR, Bavarian Radio, Israel’s “Intermezzo with Arik”, and Russia’s TV Kultura. A proponent of Sing For Hope’s mission, he served as a last-minute replacement for Lea Salonga at its 2017 Gala.

Earlier awards that greatly impacted Maxim’s musical life with support and opportunities include Gold Prize at the 16th International Television Competition “The Nutcracker” in Moscow, and Second Place at the 2015 Kissingen Piano Olympics in Germany. He has also received an Audience Award and continued support from the Musical Olympus Foundation.

Maxim is a proud alumnus of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and studies with long-time mentors Hung- Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone at The Juilliard School.