Pavel Gililov gave his solo debut with orchestra at the age of eight. His extraordinary musical talent was discovered early by Dmitri Kabalevsky, who recommended him for studies in St. Petersburg. In 1972, he won the National Piano Competition in Moscow, followed by prizes at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1975) and the Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli (1978). That same year, Gililov emigrated to the West and has since performed with leading orchestras in major cultural capitals around the world.
A favourite with audiences at such prestigious events as the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Edinburgh Festival, Gililov has also served as Artistic Director of Sommerclassics, a music festival in Rhineland-Palatinate, since 1997.
He is a member of the teaching faculty at both the Cologne University of Music and the Mozarteum University, and regularly leads masterclasses throughout Europe and the Far East.