Artists biographies
Paul Rivinius

The pianist Paul Rivinius, born in 1970, first took piano lessons at the age of five. His first teacher was Gustaf Grosch in Munich, who was followed by Alexander Sellier, Walter Blankenheim and Nerine Barrett at the Saarbrücken conservatoire. After leaving school, he also studied the horn under Marie-Luise Neunecker at the Frankfurt conservatoire, and continued his piano training under Raymund Havenith. In 1994 he was accepted in the master class of Gerhard Oppitz at the Munich conservatoire, from where he graduated with distinction in 1998.

Paul Rivinius was for many years a member of Germany’s National Youth Orchestra, as well as the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. As a chamber musician he made a name for himself with the Clemente Trio, founded in 1986, which, after several other awards, won the coveted first prize at the ARD music competition in 1998, and went on to play in the world’s ten most important concert halls as a “rising star” ensemble, including the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Wigmore Hall in London.

In addition, Paul Rivinius plays alongside his brothers Benjamin, Gustav and Siegfried in the Rivinius Klavier-Quartett. Together with musicians of the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin he has formed the Akanthus Ensemble, and since 2004 he has been a member of the Mozart Piano Quartet.

Together with the cellist Johannes Moser, he was awarded the 2007 Echo Klassik Prize for the recording of a number of cello sonatas by Shostakovich, Weinberg and Boris Tchaikovsky.

Paul Rivinius is professor of chamber music at the Hanns Eisler Conservatoire in Berlin.