Alim Beisembayev won First Prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition in September 2021, performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze.
He also took home the medici.tv Audience Prize and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society Prize for contemporary performance, with The Guardian praising him as a “worthy winner” with a “real musical personality”.
Announced as a BBC New Generation Artist 2023-25, in summer 2023 Alim made his Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms debut performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Sinfonia of London conducted by John Wilson broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for BBC Television.
Further highlights in the 2023/24 season include debuts with the BBC Symphony (Jonathan Bloxham), BBC Philharmonic (Joshua Weilerstein), Bournemouth Symphony (Tom Fetherstonhaugh) and Enescu Philharmonic as well as returning to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Domingo Hindoyan) to perform the World Premiere of a new piano concerto by Eleanor Alberga.
Recent concerto highlights include with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (Pablo Rus Broseta), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Case Scaglione), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Clemens Schuldt), Oxford Philharmonic, SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart (Yi-Chen Lin), RCM Symphony Orchestra (Sir Antonio Pappano), National Symphony Orchestra of India, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov” and Fort-Worth Symphony.
As a recitalist, Alim has made notable debuts at the BBC Proms at Truro, the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Oxford Piano Festival, Wigmore Hall, Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris) and Cliburn Concerts in addition to a tour of Europe in association with the Steinway Prizewinner Concerts Network, and Korea, with the World Culture Network. Upcoming recitals include his debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Birmingham Town Hall and return visits to the Seoul Arts Centre and Wigmore Hall among others.
In December 2022, Warner Classics released Alim’s debut album: Liszt Transcendental Études, featuring all twelve of the composer's etudes which was met with critical acclaim.
Born in Kazakhstan in 1998, Alim’s early studies were at the Purcell School where he won several awards, including First Prize at the Junior Cliburn International Competition. Alim was taught by Tessa Nicholson at school and continued his studies with her at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, Alim completed his Masters’ and Artist Diploma in Performance at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Professor Vanessa Latarche. He is generously supported by numerous scholarships such as the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, ABRSM, the Countess of Munster, Hattori Foundation, the Drake Calleja Fund trusts, and belongs to the Talent Unlimited charity scheme.
Photo credit Nabin Maharjan