„This boy lives with music and in music. He has the courage that is absolutely necessary for an artist.“  - Elizbar Londaridze

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Misho Kandashvili strikes with his combination of delicacy and strength, breathtaking technique and musical sensitivity.

Born in 1993 in Tbilisi, Georgia, he began playing piano at age seven and entered the Tbilisi Art School Anastasia Virsaladze, in the class of Irina Boterashvili. Already as a child, he developed a great interest for Bach’s music, that helped him improve over the years a very high quality and intelligence in his playing.

In 2002, he was the winner of the Contest of Georgia, as well as of numerous national competitions. He performed the Bach concerto No. 3 in 2003, which was the first performance ever of this piece in Georgia. That same year, Mikheil participated in the Georgian-German Young Artists' Festival "Tbilisi 2003" in Tbilisi, and in Schwaigern, Germany, in 2004.

 

In April 2007, he was invited once again to the Young Artists' Festival, this time in Heilbronn and Stuttgart, Germany. He performed the piano concerto "Erisioni", composed by the Georgian composer Elizbar Londaridze. Londaridze later wrote a concerto especially for Mikheil Kandashvili, entitled "Tbilisuri". Later in 2007, Mikheil Kandashvili entered the class of Lali Burdzanadze at the Ksenia Jikia Art School. In 2008, at age 14, he performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Georgian National Symphonic Orchestra, under the direction of Revaz Takidze at the Tbilisi National Musical Center. The composer Elizbar Londaridze said at that occasion: “This boy lives with music and in music. He has the courage that is absolutely necessary for an artist.”

In 2010 he took part at a festival dedicated to Franz Schubert and Frederic Chopin. He performed Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in the Tbilisi Conservatory's Grand Hall in 2011 and also became laureate at the International Festival of Young Musicians and Performers in Yerevan, where he performed, among other pieces, Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz.

Mikheil Kandashvili graduated from the Tbilisi Central Music School in 2012 under Prof. Mzia Gogashvili.

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Since Autumn 2012, he has been a student at the Prayner Konservatorium für Musik und Dramatische Kunst, in the class of Prof. Tamara Atschba. Through years of intensive work together, he gathered a large repertoire and achieved a profound understanding of different styles and composers. He was able to reach a very high technical and spiritual level that allow him today to perform freely, dedicated only to the music itself.

He was invited in 2014 and 2015 to play solo recitals at the Festival l’Eté Musical en Bergerac. In 2016 he wins the first Prize at the "Great Composers Competition Series" in categories "The Art of Piano", "The Master of Piano Concerto" and "The Master of Piano Sonata", and plays a recital with an austrian-georgian program at the Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna's Mozart Haus. 

In 2017 he wins a special prize at the XXII Ibiza international piano competition and is invited to play a recital in Windeck, Germany, as a part of the concert serie "Next Generation". This concert will be followed by an invitation to perform the Tschaikovsky concerto at the philharmony of Khmelnyzkyj, in Ukraine.

In summer 2017, Misho graduates from Prayner Konservatorium with highest scores and congratulations from the jury, after what he enrolls for a master program in chamber music, still under Prof. Atschba's teaching.

During his years of study, he participates as well in masterclasses and works on several occasions with renowned pianists Elisabeth Leonskaja, Lilya Silberstein, Paul Lewis, Jean-Bernard Pommier.

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Misho Kandashvili, always highly praised for the technical, musical and technical level of his interpretations, even once described as a young Kempff after playing Beethoven in Germany, performed in Autumn 2018 a recital at the Blüthner Zentrum in Vienna with great success.

In the spring 2019, he is first Prize winner of the ProArt Competition. He concentrates afterwards on chamber music and performs in summer 2019 with cellist Basile Auslaender. He also performs for the renowned pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier who shows much enthusiasm for his interpretation of Beethoven. With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 and the cancellation of several concert engagements, Misho took the time to work on extending his solo repertoire with pieces such as Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, as well as composing and recording Bach, Liszt and Rachmaninov in the Ehrbar Hall in Vienna. His relation to the piano and to music is sharp, heartfelt and genuine, always offering to his audience a great richness of emotions and colours. He signed his contract for his first CD with label Bella Musica/Thorofon in summer 2021, album that successfully came out in the spring 2022.

Over the years 2022 and 2023, Misho performs several concerts, in Austria, France and Germany, as soloist as well as chamber player. He is First Prize winner of the V. International Feurich Competition in Vienna, in July 2023.

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Misho is supported by the Esperus Art Fund since 2016.