Julius Asal

The German pianist Julius Asal has established himself as one of the outstanding interpreters of his generation in recent years through various solo and chamber music concert engagements. He is a regular guest at international festivals such as the Oxford Piano Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, VP Bank Classic Festival, Davos Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Gustav Mahler Festival Toblach, among others. He has performed in prestigious concert halls including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Merkin Concert Hall in New York, the Wiener Musikverein, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg.

In October 2023, Deutsche Grammophon announced Julius Asal as their new exclusive artist. The first album resulting from this collaboration is scheduled for release in 2024.

Asal's debut album featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev was released in April 2022 under the IBS Classical/NAXOS label. The album received high praise from the international press, was awarded "GOLD" by Melómano Magazine, and was chosen as the "Album of the Week" by rbbKultur and KlassikHeute. The Stereoplay Magazine featured the recording as the "Album of the Month" in its July issue. The CD also gained attention with nominations for the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the International Classical Music Award, and the OPUS Klassik.

Born in 1997 into a musical family, Asal began playing the piano shortly after the turn of the millennium. In 2013, he became a precollege student of Prof. Oliver Kern at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. Since spring 2017, Asal has been living in Berlin, where he studied with Prof. Eldar Nebolsin at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin until 2022. 

In his still-young career, the prize winner of numerous competitions has received guidance from musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Gidon Kremer, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, Kirill Gerstein, and Steven Isserlis. He has also been artistically influenced by, among others, Dénes Varjon, Boris Berezovsky, Eberhard Feltz, Olli Mustonen, Marios Papadopoulos, Bernhard Wetz, and Ferenc Rados.

In addition to his concert activities as a soloist, Julius Asal is a passionate chamber musician who regularly performs with the violinist Anne Luisa Kramb and the Arcon Trio, which he founded in 2012. Moreover, he engages in the creation of talk concerts and readings with a musical narrative, bringing him together with international actors and authors in recent years. On behalf of the Hessian Ministry of Culture, he gave a lecture on the topic "Improvisation - Musical Reorientation as a Philosophy of Life" and appeared in his own projects such as "Schumann - On Intimacy and Ambivalence" and “Büchner meets Ravel - Lenz and Gaspard de la nuit.” 

Since October 2021, he has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Sir András Schiff, thanks to the Reinhuber/Rühland patronage.