Born in San Pedro w 1969 and based in Geneva, he is one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. He first learned the instrument with Jorge Garrubba and went on to study with Juan Carlos Arabiana and Carmen Scalcione at the Buenos Aires Conservatory. In 1986, he won first prize at the F. Liszt International Piano Concerto in Buenos Aires. His extraordinary talent was noticed by Martha Argerich, who helped him win the CIMAE - Art and Science Foundation and Mozarteum Argentino scholarships and enter the Geneva Conservatory. He graduated with honours from Maria Tipo in 1990. Already in the same year, he won First Prize at the Geneva Competition. His success paved the way for engagements with many orchestras, including Orchestre de Suisse Romande (Chopin’s Concerto in E minor). He toured Japan in 1991, gave a series of recitals in Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Geneva and Stuttgart. Mr Goerner’s successes also included a double debut in London: a recital at the Royal Festival Hall and a concert with Philharmonia Orchestra under Claus Peter Flor (Mozart’s Concerto in C minor KV 491). In the season 1994/5 he returned to Japan; the artist also played with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester under Andrew Davies (Mozart’s Concerto in C minor KV 491) and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall (Dohnanyi's Variations). The season also saw his appearance at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under David Zinman. He gave concerts with the New Moscow Symphony (Theatre des Champs Elysees, Paris), Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Montreal Symphony and other ensembles. He appeared at the high-status Lucerne Festival for the 50th anniversary of Rakhmaninov’s death. His art was praised by critics and audiences alike in San Francisco, Milan, London, Istanbul, and Washington, D.C.
Although, according to many critics, Nelson Goerner was the most outstanding figure of the 13th Chopin Competition, he did not make it to the final round. Thanks to Martha Argerich and Fou Ts'ong, however, he was given the opportunity to perform his final programme at Warsaw’s National Philharmonic Hall; this greatly acclaimed event was recorded for Accord. Mr Goerner’s later appearances in Britain continued the line of his successes; BBC Music of September 1998 listed him among 250 eminent figures of world music as one of the “new blood” group, i.e. young pianists closest to the great masters.
Nelson Goerner has given concerts in every part of the world. One of the few virtuosi who perform both Brahms piano concertos in a single programme, he is particularly successful in the great works by Chopin and Liszt. A recording of the latter’s complete Transcendental Etudes is another of his most recent feats. Mr Goerner is nevertheless an equally eminent chamber musician.