Kilian Scholla
has performed in venues across Germany, the UK and beyond, regularly appearing in concerts as soloist, chamber musician as well as song accompanist. A strong interest in improvisation, composition and contemporary music occupies a prominent place in his artistic activities. His own works are regularly featured in his concert programmes.
Kilian made his debut with an orchestra at the age of only 15 with Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. This was followed by concerts with the Mitteldeutsche Kammerphilharmonie while still a pupil, in which he appeared performing works by W. A. Mozart, C. Saint-Saëns and G. Gershwin, among others. In October 2019 he made his debut at the renowned Gewandhaus Leipzig (Germany) with Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto and his own cadenza together with the Saxony State Youth Orchestra under the baton of Milko Kersten.
Kilian is 1st prize winner in numerous national youth competitions, including the Jüttingstiftung Stendal Competition, the Carl Schroeder Competition Sondershausen and the national Jugend musiziert Competition. At the Köthen Bach Competition for Young Pianists he was awarded the Artistic Advancement Award in 2013. In 2018 he won 1st prize in the Beryl Chempin Beethoven Competition Birmingham,
was 3rd prize winner in the BPSE Intercollegiate Piano Competition 2018 and was a finalist in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship Competition 2020. In 2022 he won the prestigious Donohoe Gold Medal Competition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and was awarded the Maria-Ladenburger-Förderpreis für Musik, which is awarded every 2 years by the Cusanuswerk, the Ladenburger family and in cooperation with Deutsche Grammophon and WDR.
Born in Staßfurt (Germany) in 1996, he started to play the piano when he was seven years old. Soon after, he commenced his musical education at the ‘Béla Bartók’ School of Music Saxony Anhalt, since 2010 with Irina Lackmann. Kilian Scholla graduated with distinction from the HMT "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig with Dietmar Nawroth and Hanns-Martin Schreiber (chamber music) in 2019. In 2018/19 he was an Erasmus student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and went on to complete his Master's under Pascal Nemirovski and Victor Sangiorgio with full scholarship and highest honours in 2021. He is currently studying on the APD (Advanced Performance Diploma) course at the RBC as well as towards a second Master ́s degree in Musicology at the Humboldt University Berlin.
Throughout his studies Kilian has participated in masterclasses with eminent pianists and professors such as Konrad Elser, Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Andrzej Jasiński, Sontraud Speidel, Jeanne Kierman, Nelly Akopian-Tamarina, Wolfgang Manz and Phillip Kawin.
Being also a keen chamber musician and accompanist, Kilian has gained vital artistic insight and inspiration through his studies with Caspar Frantz and Alexander Schmalcz.
Kilian has been generously supported by numerous grants and scholarships, amongst others: the Sparkasse, the German National Scholarship Program (Deutschlandstipendium), the Beate-Graefe foundation, the Cusanuswerk e.V. and Help Musicians UK.