Alexander Toradze 1952 - 2022

On May 11, 2022, the music world lost Alexander Toradze, a titanic pianist, a gigantic personality, a very dedicated musician and an immensely generous man.

Born in Tbilisi on May 30, 1952, Alexander Toradze was the son of the leading Georgian composer David Toradze and film star Liana Asatiani. He graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and toured the West as a Soviet artist, soon becoming one of the leading pianists of his generation after winning the silver medal at the 1977 Cliburn Competition. He defected in 1983 and moved to the United States in 1991 where he was appointed the Martin Endowed Professor in Piano at Indiana University South Bend and became an internationally acclaimed teacher for over 25 years. In 1995 he created the Toradze Piano Studio which developed into a worldwide touring ensemble receiving critical acclaim for performance projects in Europe and the US. Toradze performed extensively in the US, Europe and Japan with the great orchestras and conductors of our time. His personal and intense interpretations of the Prokofiev Piano Concerti remain a milestone within the vast repertoire he possessed.