Zlata Chochieva

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BIOGRAPHY

“I can think of few piano recitals finer than this”
(Seen and Heard International)

Pianist Zlata Chochieva is celebrated worldwide by critics and audiences alike as one of the most extraordinary artists of her generation. Described as “reminiscent of Sergei Rachmaninov’s playing,” she was hailed for combining “the overwhelming power of Martha Argerich with the subtle, refined tonal sensitivity of her mentor Mikhail Pletnev” — a highlight from a rave review in the Berliner Morgenpost, following her stunning all-Rachmaninoff performance at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2023. Her acclaimed recording of the Chopin Études, selected by Gramophone as one of the 10 greatest Chopin recordings (alongside Argerich, Pollini, and Rubinstein), was recognized by Jeremy Nicholas as “one of the most consistently inspired, masterfully executed and beautiful-sounding versions I can recall.”

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include her debut at the Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron and performances of Chopin’s Complete 27 Études in recitals across Europe, including London’s Wigmore Hall, IUC in Rome, Unione Musicale in Turin, the Yehudi Menuhin Forum in Bern, and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. The season also includes an extensive North American recital tour, with appearances for Vivo Performing Arts at NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston, the Vancouver Chopin Society, and Capital Region Classical in New York.

Orchestral highlights include Stravinsky’s Piano Concerto with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and Maxime Pascal, as well as Bach and Mozart concertos with Musikkollegium Winterthur at the Tonhalle Zürich as part of Hommage à Géza Anda, alongside further orchestral appearances across Europe and the United States.

Recording exclusively for Naïve Records, Chochieva has received widespread critical acclaim for her discography. Her orchestral album with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, featuring works for piano and orchestra by Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, and Tsfasman, received five-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Musica. Her solo album Im freien was named an Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, while her album (re)creations (Accentus), featuring transcriptions by Rachmaninov, Liszt, and Friedman, received the German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). Her fourth album for Naïve, In One Take, will be released in February 2027 and seeks to preserve in the recording studio the sense of risk, freedom and continuous musical time of live performance, with each work recorded in a single uninterrupted take.

Zlata made her first stage appearance at the age of four and gave her orchestral debut just three years later, performing a Mozart concerto at the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory. Since then, she has performed at leading international venues including the Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Herkulessaal Munich, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Casa da Música in Porto, and Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts.

From a young age, she distinguished herself as a top-prize winner in more than 15 international piano competitions.

With an extensive and diverse concerto repertoire of around 60 works, Zlata Chochieva has appeared with major orchestras including the Russian National Orchestra, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. She has collaborated with conductors including Tugan Sokhiev, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Spivakov, Karl-Heinz Steffens, and Dmitry Matvienko.

A devoted chamber musician, she has performed with Stephen Kovacevich, Lynn Harrell, Gilles Apap, Vilde Frang, Wenzel Fuchs, and Jacquelyn Wagner, among others.

A protégé of Mikhail Pletnev at the Central Special Music School, she also studied with Pavel Nersessian at the Moscow State Conservatory. She completed her studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Jacques Rouvier and was subsequently his assistant for several years.

Born in Moscow to Ossetian parents, Zlata Chochieva is now based in Bern, where she has been Professor of Piano at the Hochschule der Künste Bern (HKB) since 2025. Among other languages, she speaks Ossetian — a lesser-known language recognized for its cultural significance.

In 2018, she established the International Festival at Rachmaninov’s estate in Ivanovka and serves as its Director. She is an ambassador for Bärenreiter Verlag.

2026/2027
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