Khatia Buniatishvili (ხატია ბუნიათიშვილი, ; born 21 June 1987) is a Georgian concert pianist.

Early life and education

Born in 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Khatia Buniatishvili began studying piano under her mother at the age of three. She gave her first concert with Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra when she was six and appeared internationally at age ten. She studied in Tbilisi with Tengiz Amirejibi and in Vienna with Oleg Maisenberg at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Between the ages of eleven and fifteen, she left school in Georgia to follow intensive training with the French pianist and pedagogue of Hungarian origin Michel Sogny at the Villa Schindler in Austria, where she studied Sogny’s innovative piano methodology. Her older sister, Gvantsa Buniatishvili, is also a pianist, and they have played together on numerous occasions.

Career

Buniatishvili signed with Sony Classical as an exclusive artist in 2010. Her 2011 debut album included Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, Liebestraum No. 3, and Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Buniatishvili is a regular attendee of the Verbier Festival, and she performed Liszt's Sonata in B minor at the 2011 festival. In 2012, Buniatishvili released her second album, Chopin, which featured solo piano works as well as Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor accompanied by the Orchestre de Paris and Paavo Järvi. The Guardian reported "This is playing straight from the heart from one of today's most exciting and technically gifted young pianists."

Discography