
Univ.-Prof.
Andreas Groethuysen
For over three decades, pianist Andreas Groethuysen has shaped the international music scene as one half of the celebrated Tal & Groethuysen piano duo. Their extensive discography with SONY CLASSICAL has earned numerous major awards and set new benchmarks for the piano duo repertoire. Alongside a busy performance schedule at world-renowned venues and festivals, Groethuysen is a sought-after educator and juror, leading the solo piano class and the MA programme in piano duo at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Andreas Groethuysen (b. 1956, München) initially explored paths in philosophy and medicine before ultimately dedicating himself to music. He began his academic studies in piano with Ludwig Hoffmann at the University of Music and Theatre Munich. Following his Staatsexamen and three years of postgraduate study in Germany, he received funding from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation to continue his education in London with Peter Feuchtwanger.
Upon completing his studies, he was immediately admitted to the "Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler", which offered numerous concert opportunities throughout Germany as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral soloist.
After several years performing as a soloist, Groethuysen joined forces with Yaara Tal to form a piano duo, which has grown to form the centre of his artistic activities. For over 30 years, invitations have taken the duo to most European countries as well as Israel, Japan, China, and North and South America; they have delighted audiences in world-renowned venues such as the Royal Concertgebouw, the Berliner and Kölner Philharmonien, Munich Gasteig, Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Musikhalle Hamburg, the Hongkong Arts Festival, Lucerne Festival, Teatro alla Scala, the Frick Collection New York, der Forbidden City Concert Hall Beijing, the Piano Festival La Roque d'Anthéron, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Salzburg Festival, the Wiener Musikverein and the Tonhalle Zürich.
In exclusive collaboration with the label SONY CLASSICAL, the duo has recorded a series of over 30 CDs, which have attracted praise from audiences and critics alike and won numerous accolades, including the German Record Critics’ Award (10 times), the Echo Prize (5 times), and the Cannes Classical Award; they have also made significant contributions to the world of recorded music with their premiere recordings of a number of pieces. A jewel in their discography is their premiere recordings of the complete works for two pianos by Franz Schubert and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Andreas Groethuysen has frequently been invited to sit on the juries of national and international competitions, and has chaired the jury of the piano duo class the ARD competition on a number of occasions.
For many years, Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen have chanelled their pedagogical talents into masterclasses at home and abroad. In 1995, the educational branch of NHK, Japanese national television, produced an eight-part series of lessons in piano duo. In 2004, the two of them took on teaching in the postgraduate programme for piano duo at the University of Music and Theatre Munich, and since October 2014 Andreas Groethuysen has taught at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, where he leads his own solo piano class and – together with Yaara Tal – the MA programme in piano duo.