Markus Pawlik

“What I really like about the C. Bechstein concert grand is its flexible and highly nuanced voice. It (virtually) sings all by itself.”

Markus Pawlik is best characterized as one of the rare pianists of today who manage to combine sensitivity and expressiveness together with a phenomenal virtuoso technique. Born in Bremen in 1966, his talent was recognized at an early age as he began performing publicly at 7 and was the three-time winner of the German National Young Musician's Competition “Jugend Musiziert.”

In 1982, sent as the German representative to the first European Broadcast Union’s televised “Eurovision Young Musician of the Year” competition, Pawlik won the grand prize, which brought him much acclaim and began his international career. He has since pursued his performance career throughout Europe, North America and Asia in cities as diverse as Munich, Prague, Dublin, San Francisco, New York, Tokyo, Bangkok and many others.

Pawlik has been featured numerous times on radio and television including the farewell gala of former German president Carl Carstens, and has released numerous solo and chamber music recordings. As well as the standard repertoire, Pawlik also actively supports contemporary music through projects such as the commission of a Piano Concerto by Ichiro Nodaira which he debuted in Berkeley and at Suntory Hall and a recent recording of SNAPSHOTS by composer Peter Knell. In addition to performing, Pawlik gives international master classes, has judged numerous competitions and has taught as a guest lecturer at UCLA.