Born in Marseille in 1951, the French-Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris first began to play the piano in Cameroon, where he spent his childhood, at the age of four. Later he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Aline van Barentzen, Monique de la Bruchollerie and Jean Hubeau. He won the International Young Rostrum (UNESCO 1977), the First Prize in the International Cziffra Competition(1974), Prizes at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels (1972), the Albert Roussel Prize (1970) and a Certificate of Honour from the Tschaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1970).

Cyprien Katsaris has performed with some of the world's greatest orchestras, among them the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Philharmonia London, Concertgebouw Orchestra, etc... The list of conductors with whom he has collaborated includes Leonard Bernstein, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Kurt Masur, Sandor Végh, Eliahu Inbal, Nikolaus Hamoncourt, Ivan Fischer, Mstislav Rostropovitch, among others. Besides the traditional repertoire, Cyprien Katsaris has been interested in rediscovering forgotten music, such as the Concerto in the Hungarian Style from Liszt/Tschaikowsky, which he brought back to life in a recording with Eugen Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Cyprien Katsaris has extensively recorded for Teldec, SONY Classical, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG, DECCA, Pavane, and received numerous awards: "Grand Prix du Disque Franz Liszt" in Budapest in 1984 and "Record of the Year Award" in Germany for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as transcribed by Franz Liszt; "Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin" in Warsaw for his recording of Chopin's Ballade and Scherzi in 1985; "British Music Retailer's Association's Award" for a Liszt Recording 1986; and again "Grand Prix du Disque Franz Liszt" Budapest in 1989 for Beethoven/Liszt 1st and 2nd Symphonies. In 1992 the Japanese NHK TV produced a thirteen programme series on Chopin with Cyprien Katsaris (masterclasses and performances).

Mr. Katsaris is also very active as a chamber musician and enjoys working with singers. The recently formed Katsaris Piano Quintet received an enthusiastic response from press and audiences during its last tours in USA, in Europe and Japan.