At 22, Alexandre Kantorow is the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition as well as the competition’s Grand Prix, awarded only thrice previously in its history. Already hailed by critics as the "young czar of the piano" (Classica) and the "reincarnation of Liszt" (Fanfare), he has received numerous other awards and is invited to perform in the most prestigious venues throughout the world.

Before his competition successes, Kantorow had already attracted much attention. He began his career at an early age and at 16, made his debut at La Folle Journée de Nantes. Since then, he has performed with the world's leading orchestras, including regularly with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. In the coming seasons, he will appear with the Orchestre de Paris, the Berlin Staatskappelle, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and will be touring with the Orchestre National de Toulouse, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic.

In recital, he also performs in the most prominent international concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam’s Master Pianists series, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Philharmonie in Paris, the BOZAR in Brussels, the Konserthus in Stockholm and in the most prestigious festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins, the Verbier Festival and the Klavierfest Ruhr. Chamber music is also one of his great pleasures and he regularly performs with Victor Julien-Laferrière, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovick and Matthias Goerne.

Alexandre Kantorow records exclusively for BIS, to great critical success. His latest recording of solo works by Brahms was awarded the Diapason d'Or. His two previous recordings of Saint-Saëns concerti 3-5 and solo works by Brahms, Bartók and Liszt, both received the Diapason d'Or and the Choc de l’Année Classica in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Gramophone magazine selecting the latter disc as “Editor's Choice” and describing Kantorow’s performance as "another outstanding example of his virtuosity and artistry, demonstrating both skill and sensitivity from start to finish." His Russian-style recital recordings also won numerous awards and honours in 2017, including Choc de l'Année (Classica), Diapason découverte (Diapason), Supersonic (Pizzicata) and Doppelmonats CD (PianoNews).

Kantorow is a laureate of the Fondation Safran and the Banque Populaire, and in 2019 was named "Musical Revelation of the Year" by the Professional Critics Association. In 2020, he won the Victoires de la Musique Classique in two categories: Recording of the Year and Instrumental Soloist of the Year.

Born in France and of Franco-British origin, he studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley, and Rena Shereshevskaya.