Born in Brazil, Nelson Freire began piano studies at the age of three with Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, who had worked with a pupil of Liszt. He made his first public appearance at the age of five with Mozart Sonata in A K.331. In 1957, after winning a grant at the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition with his performance of Beethoven's “Emperor” concerto, he went to Vienna to study with Bruno Seidlhofer, teacher of Friedrich Gulda. Seven years later he won the Dinu Lipatti Medal in London and the first prize at the International Vianna da Motta Competition in Lisbon.

His international career begins in 1959: Europe, USA, Central and South America, Japan and Israel. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Pierre BOULEZ, Riccardo CHAILLY, Charles DUTOIT, Valery GERGIEV, Eugene JOCHUM, Fabio LUISI, Lorin MAAZEL, Kurt MASUR, Rudolf KEMPE (tours in the United States and Germany with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), Vaclav NEUMANN, Seiji OZAWA, André PREVIN, Gennady ROZHDESTVENSKY, David ZINMAN, Hugh WOLFF, Ingo METZMACHER, Yuri TEMIRKANOV, Myung-Whun CHUNG, I. VOLKOV, A. VERDERNIKOV, A. WIT, J. BELOHLAVEK, Tugan SOKHIEV, Jean-Claude CASADESUS, Leopold HAGER, Louis LANGREE, Thomas DAUSGAARD.

He is invited by prestigious orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, London Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Radio France Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, as well as American Orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia… With Martha Argerich, he toured Japan in 2003, Brazil and Argentina in 2004 and USA in 2005 (New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Québec).

Season 2008/2009 began with a European tour with the Orchestre de Toulouse (Tugan Sokhiev), then concerts with the Orchestre National de France (K. Masur), Orchestre de la Suisse Italienne (G. Albrecht), Concertgebouw Orchestra, Galicia Symphony Orchestra (VP Marquez), BBC Symphony Orchestra (L. Bringuier), a Spanish tour with the Danish Symphony Orchestra (Th. Dausgaard), a tour in North America with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, concerts with the Deutsches Symphony Orchester (I. Metzmacher), TonKünstler Orchester (R. Hickox), London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Colin Davies)… and recitals in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Germany…

As an exclusive DECCA Artist, his recent recordings of Chopin, Schumann and Brahms Concertos 1 and 2 with the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly received the most prestigious prizes : Diapason d’Or of the Year, Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 10 by Repertoire, Classica. Last recording : Beethoven Sonatas (Diapason d’Or of the Month). The portrait “Nelson FREIRE” is available on Video Film (Brazil).

Mars 2007 : he is appointed Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Nelson Freire was nominated “Soloist of the Year 2002” by French Victoires de la Musique and received in January 2005 a special “Honours Award” for his career. His Chopin recording is nominated by Grammy Awards 2006. His Brahms Concertos with Riccardo Chailly are nominated by Grammy Awards 2007 and announced “Record of the Years” and “Winner of the Concerto Category” by Classic FM Gramophone Awards 2007.