Participant of contest 2015

Dorothy Khadem-Missagh

Dorothy Khadem-Missagh

Dorothy Khadem-Missagh © Shirley Suarez

Praised by Gramophone Magazine as a „breath of fresh air“, Dorothy Khadem-Missagh is an Austrian pianist and conductor. She performs regularly on major stages and in concert halls such as the Musikverein Vienna, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Brucknerhaus Linz and Seognam Art Center and has appeared at internationally renowned festivals such as the Mosel Musik Festival, Kyoto Intenational Festival. As a soloist she has performed with the Seoul Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academia Allegro Vivo. As a passionate chamber musician, Dorothy Khadem-Missagh is a founding member of the Viennese piano trio „Trio Vision“ with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Ekaterina Frolova (violin) and Peter Somodari (solo cellist). She also performs with outstanding chamber music partners such as Christian Altenburger, Matthias Schorn, Matthias Bartolomey, Jiyoon Lee, KS Wolfgang Bankl.

Born in Austria, she received her first piano lessons at the age of three. At the age of six she was already admitted to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she studied with Noel Flores, Jan Jiracek von Arnim and others, and in Salzburg with Pavel Gililov. She also received significant musical impulses from Martha Argerich, Rudolf Buchbinder, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Sir András Schiff, Menahem Pressler and Robert Levin.

She is a multiple prize winner of numerous international competitions, such as the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn, winner of the International Béla Bartók Competition, finalist of the New York International Piano Competition and prize winner of the Piano Competition in Ettlingen as well as the International Piano Competition „Ricard Vines“. Dorothy Khadem-Missagh has been invited to the Verbier Festival Academy and the Aspen Music Festival.

She made her conducting debut with the renowned Vienna Chamber Orchestra and has since conducted the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, MÁV Symphony Orchestra Budapest, Siamo Orkest, Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and the Beethoven Spring Festival Orchestra. As founder and artistic director of the Beethoven Spring Festival and the symphonic Beethoven Spring Festival Orchestra, Dorothy Khadem-Missagh takes on another formative role. The festival has been held annually since 2020 with outstanding partners such as Radio Ö1 at special Beethoven locations in Lower Austria. With orchestral and chamber music concerts, a diverse audience is addressed and young people are inspired for classical music. Dorothy Khadem-Missagh completed her conducting training with Sian Edwards at the Royal Academy of Music London, supplemented by master classes with Jorma Panula, Johannes Schlaefli, Dame Jane Glover, Sir Mark Elder, Alice Farnham, Martin Sieghart and Ekhart Wycik.

Numerous recordings document her outstanding musical work. Her album with works by Ludwig van Beethoven as well as the premiere recording of his long-forgotten contemporary Karl Traugott Zeuner was nominated in several categories for the prestigious Opus Klassik Award and highly praised by international critics. In 2021, the release of their Piano Trio album with works by L.v. Beethoven, J. Brahms and H. Gál was named „Ö1 CD of the Month“ and received great acclaim in BBC Music Magazine.