Pianist Nikolai Lugansky is renowned for his interpretations of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chopin and Debussy. He has received numerous awards for recordings and artistic merit.

He collaborates regularly with conductors of the calibre of Kent Nagano, Yuri Temirkanov, Manfred Honeck, Gianandrea Noseda, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Vasily Petrenko, Lahav Shani. He is invited by leading international orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orquestra Nacional de España.

In 2023, he celebrated the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov's birth by performing all of the Russian composer major solo works in a three-concert cycle at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Wigmore Hall in London, along with other performances throughout Europe, including at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and Berlin, the Bozar in Brussels, the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

The performances have been a great success with audiences and critics alike, where “Lugansky's command of the piano is exceptional.... He is masterful in his knowledge of tempo, structure and expression” (Bachtrack).

In the summer he returned to the US to perform Rachmaninov concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra with Stanislav Kochanovsky and at the Colorado Music Festival with Peter Oundjian.

During this season, he will perform with the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, among others.

He will also undertake several tours, including one in Asia in December 2023, in the Canary Islands in January 2024, in the UK with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and in Italy with Vadim Repin in February 2024.

Described by Gramophone as “the most trailblazing and meteoric performer of all”, Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. He appears at some of the world's most distinguished festivals, including the Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia and Verbier festivals. Chamber music collaborators include Vadim Repin, Alexander Kniazev, Mischa Maisky and Leonidas Kavakos.

Lugansky has an exclusive contract with Harmonia Mundi and his Rachmaninov 24 Preludes, released in April 2018, met with enthusiastic reviews. His publication César Franck, Préludes, Fugues & Chorals (2020) won the Diapason d'Or.

His album Rachmaninov: “Études-Tableaux; 3 Pièces”, was awarded with Choc de l'Année 2023 (Classica) and Gramophone Editor's Choice (March 2023): “can we use the word genius to describe what he does with them, the torrents of lyricism (never sentimental) and virtuosity bordering on madness of a Russian prince? We are carried away, subjugated and shouting: ENCORE!” (The OBS). Among the other awards for his many previous recordings: Diapason d’Or (Rachmaninov's Piano Sonatas) and Gramophone Editor’s Choice (Grieg and Prokofiev with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin).

His latest recording “Richard Wagner” was released in March 2024.