Michael Korstick

Korstick received his first piano lessons at the age of 9 and was first prize winner of the "Jugend musiziert" competition in Cologne at the age of 11. After graduating from high school he entered the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne as a student of Jürgen Tröster, and in 1974 he became a student of Hans Leygraf in Hanover. In the same year he took master classes from the Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva and subsequently worked with her on several occasions. He made his formal concert début in Cologne in 1975, performing Beethoven's sonatas op.106 and op.111.

In 1976 Korstick went to the United States to continue his studies at The Juilliard School in New York City where he was a scholarship student of Sascha Gorodnitzki until 1983. He spent several summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a student of Jeaneane Dowis. After winning the Competition of German Music Council, he returned to Germany in 1983 to start his concert career.

Critics have called Korstick "one of the most important Beethoven performers of our time" (Audiophile, Fono Forum). His repertoire consists of more than 120 works for piano and orchestra and a large number of solo works from all periods, including the complete sonatas of Beethoven. On his worldwide concert tours he has given cyclical performances of the piano concerti of Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Bartók, and Prokofiev.

Korstick has made more than 60 CD recordings so far, among them most notably Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas (the complete edition was released in 2012). He has been the recipient of Germany's Echo Klassik prize in 2005, the MIDEM Classical Award Cannes in 2009, as well as of seven "Awards of the German Record Critics", most recently in February 2022. He was also the recipient of the Special Achievement Award at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2022.

His 2003 recording of Beethoven's Sonata op.106 ("Hammerklavier") has been the subject of feature articles in Die Zeit and the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Jürgen Otten included him in his 2009 standard work Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart (The Great Pianists of Our Time) as one of four German pianists. In Ingo Harden and Gregor Willmes' Pianisten Profile (Pianist Profiles) his playing is described to be of "overwhelming intensity".

From 2014 to 2022 he was full professor of piano performance at Anton Bruckner University in Linz, Austria.

• Csampai Attila (April 2004). Audiophile: 84 /Fono Forum: 72. March 2008.
• Die Zeit n°42 October 7, 2004 : Eine Sonate im Ausnahmezustand
• Süddeutsche Zeitung September 8, 2004: Radikal wie der Komponist
• Jürgen Otten (2009). Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart. Berlin/Leipzig, Henschel Edition. p. 174-177. ISBN 978-3-89487-530-5.
• Ingo Harden/Gregor Willmes (2008). PianistenProfile. Kassel, Bärenreiter Edition. p. 394–395. ISBN 978-3-7618-1616-5.