Ralf Gothóni

Ralf Georg Nils Gothóni (born 2 May 1946) is a Finnish-German pianist and conductor. He is also active as a chamber musician, professor, composer, and author. Born in Rauma, he made his orchestra debut at age 15. Besides his worldwide concert career he has made some 100 recordings with major labels. He often performs in a double role conducting from the keyboard.

Gothóni has performed as a pianist and conductor on five continents with numerous renowned orchestras and singers, performed at almost all major music festivals and recorded almost 100 albums for several international labels.

Gothóni has performed at music festivals in Salzburg, Berlin, Prague, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Roque de Antheron, Ravinia and Tanglewood. He has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Chicago, Detroit and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin and Warsaw Philharmonics, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic and the English Chamber Orchestra. He performs in numerous concerts each year, both as a soloist and as a conductor, leading from the piano.

Gothóni began his musical studies as a violinist at the age of three. However, he switched from violin to piano at the age of five. When he had played the piano for the first time - his first piece was the Pori March - he broke his violin on the corner of the table. At the age of eight, he was accepted into the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki to study with Tapani Valsta at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki and later with Ervin László in Fribourgh, Switzerland and Max Martin Stein in Düsseldorf.

Gothóni made his debut as an orchestral soloist at the age of 15, and in 1967 he performed at the Jyväskylä Summer Festival as “Debutante of the Year.” In the late 1960s, he worked as a rehearsal pianist at the Royal Stockholm Opera.