Anna Semyonovna Gourari is a classical concert pianist.
She received her first piano education at the age of five from her parents, professors at Kazan Academy of Music. In 1979 she performed her first public concert. From that year onwards she studied at further renowned piano schools and with famous piano tutors. In 1990 she relocated together with her parents to Germany in order to study at the Hochschule für Musik with Ludwig Hoffmann in Munich.
Anna Gourari quickly gained renown by winning important competitions:
1986 1st prize at the Kabalevsky competition in Russia
1989 1st prize at the First International Chopin competition in Göttingen.
1994 1st prize at the First International Clara-Schumann-Klavierconcours in Düsseldorf. Jury: Martha Argerich, Alexis Weissenberg, Nelson Freire, Vladimir Ashkenazy a.o.
This last prize marked the beginning of her international acceptance. As of that year, Gourari has played a significant role on the international concert scene. She often performs together with leading orchestras under conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, etc.
In 2001 she played a star role in Werner Herzog's movie Invincible.