Alexander MELNIKOV has earned a reputation as one of the finest young Russian pianists of his generation. His performances of both the large scale Russian works and also the central European repertoire have been greeted with critical acclaim.

In both, this and the forthcoming seasons Melnikov has been invited to give performances of Prokofiev Concerto No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 with the Stuttgart Philharmonic under Walter Weller, as well as concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Vassily Sinaisky of Beethoven's First Piano Concerto. He will perform Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Halle Orchestra and Mark Elder, in addition to performances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Winterthur, New Zealand Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, the orchestras of Symphony Australia, the Malaysian Philharmonic and as soloist on tour in Japan. In recital, Melnikov appears regularly the world's leading concert halls including the Wigmore Hall, Vienna Konserthaus, Chatelet and Concertgebouw and also at festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad, Verbier, Stavanger, December Nights, Piano aux Jacobins, Bath and at Claudio Abbado's Festival in Berlin. Chamber music plays an important part in Melnikov's activities and in addition to his well established relationship with Vadim Repin, also works with Natalia Gutman, Victor Tretiakov, the Vanbrugh and Borodin Quartets, Truls Mork, Isabelle van Keulen and as a piano duo with Boris Berezovsky, with whom he has appeared at the Louvre and Concertgebouw.

Melnikov is also featured as a BBC New Generation Artist and as such broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 in recital and chamber music as well as performing and recording with the BBC Orchestras. Melnikov has close artistic ties with the late Sviatoslav Richter, who regularly invited him to participate in his festivals in Tarussa, Russia, and his chamber music festival in Tours, France.