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 the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition with his performance of Beethoven's “Emperor” concerto, the president of Brazil presented him with a financial scholarship which allowed him to study with Bruno Seidlhofer, teacher of Friedrich Gulda, in Vienna. Seven years later, Freire won the Dinu Lipatti Medal in London, as well as the first prize at the International Vianna da Motta Competition in Lisbon.

Nelson Freire’s international career starts in 1959 with recitals and concerts in the most important cities in Europe, the United States, South and Central America, Japan and Israel. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Hans Graf, Eugene Jochum, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Rudolf Kempe (with whom he toured several times the United States and Germany with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), John Nelson, Vaclav Neumann, Seiji Ozawa, Michel Plasson, André Previn, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, David Zinman, Hugh Wolff…

He is invited by prestigious orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk, Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Radio France Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, as well as American Orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia… In 1999, Nelson Freire marked the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death with a triumphant performance of the composer’s Concerto No. 2 in Warsaw. In 2001 he is Chairman of the Jury of the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris.

He plays recitals in the most prestigious venues and series in Amsterdam, Bilbao, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, Roma, Madrid, Munich, Lisboa, Luxembourg, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Zurich. He plays duo recitals with Martha Argerich and they toured Japan in 2003, Brazil and Argentina in 2004 and USA in 2005 (New York Carnegie Hall, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Québec).

During the summer 2005 great success at the BBC Proms in London, in Japan with the Tokyo NHK, in La Roque d’Anthéron Festival and “carte blanche” in the “Piano aux Jacobins Festival” in Toulouse.

In 2005/06 he is playing with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly in Leipzig and on the European tour (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Danish Radio Orchestra, Orchestre National de France and Kurt Masur, as well as recitals in Paris, Madrid, Bilbao, Gstaad, Geneva and with Martha Argerich in Toulouse and Essen (Klavierfestival Ruhr).

Next season 2006/07 he is with the London Philharmonic under Kurt Masur touring USA, BBC Symphony in London (Barbican Hall) under Manfred Honeck, Orchestre National de France in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw Hall) under Kurt Masur, Sao Paolo Orchestra in Brazil and on the tour in Europe (Austria, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain), Liège Philharmonic under Louis Langré. He is playing recitals in London Queen Elisabeth Hall, Paris, Grenoble, Rotterdam, Amsterdam (with Martha Argerich) and USA.

Nelson Freire has recorded for Sony/CBS, Teldec, DGG, IPAM, and London labels. In 1999, Philips released a CD of his most coveted performances on their acclaimed series, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and his recording of Chopin’s 24 Préludes on CBS received the “Prix Edison”. In 2001 he signed an exclusive contract with DECCA and his Chopin recording received the most prestigious prizes in 2002: Diapason d’Or, Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 10 by Repertoire, Classica. Recently released: a CD dedicated to Schumann and a second Chopin recital (nominated for the best solo recording by Grammy Awards, Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique …) and a portrait “Nelson FREIRE” by Video Film ( Brazil ). Just released: Brahms Concertos 1 and 2 with the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly. Next recording: Beethoven Sonatas.

Nelson Freire was nominated “Soloist of the Year 2002” by French Victoires de la Musique and receives in January 2005 a special “Honours Award” for his career.