Dutch-Russian pianist Olga Pashchenko enjoys an internationally acclaimed and multifaceted career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, performing on modern piano, harpsichord, and fortepiano. Renowned for her stylistic versatility and historically informed approach, she chooses both instrument and interpretative style according to the repertoire she performs. Her artistry has been praised for its “powerful charm” (Diapason d’Or) and for combining “eloquence and emotion, passion and poetry” (BBC Music Magazine, double five-star review).
Recently appointed Artistic Partner of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Pashchenko will appear regularly with the ensemble in the coming seasons. She takes centre stage to play and direct from the keyboard in a new recording cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos. The first album, to be released on Alpha Classics in 2027, marks the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death. This partnership follows a series of critically acclaimed collaborations with the orchestra, including Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in 2023 and Dussek’s Piano Concerto No. 12 with Václav Luks in 2025.
The 2025/26 season marked the beginning of her three-year residency as Artist-in-Residence at AMUZ Antwerp. Her inaugural season featured a solo recital, a duo performance with baritone Georg Nigl, and a collaboration with Il Gardellino, an ensemble with whom she enjoys a longstanding artistic partnership.
Recent highlights include return engagements with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, B’Rock, and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, as well as her debut at the Brucknerhaus Linz, followed later in the season by performances with L’Orfeo Barockorchester. In 2025, Olga returned to Cologne for concerts with Concerto Köln and made notable debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. These appearances brought her to leading venues including Wigmore Hall in London and the Auditorium de Lyon, alongside recital tours across Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. She is also a regular guest at major festivals such as the Hindsgavl Festival, Potsdam Festival, and Carinthischer Sommer. Additional concerto engagements have included collaborations with Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Meininger Hofkapelle, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and the Jenaer Philharmoniker. Festival appearances have featured performances with Capella Augustina at the Potsdam Festival and with Collegium 1704 under Václav Luks at the Chopin Festival in Warsaw. She has also appeared with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra at the RSO Festival in Helsinki alongside Alexei Lubimov.
Her recital work has taken her to major venues including the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. As a chamber musician, she collaborates regularly with distinguished artists such as Alexander Melnikov, Giovanni Antonini, Avi Avital, Anna Besson, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Julien Chauvin, and Erik Bosgraaf.
A passionate advocate of interdisciplinary performance, Olga collaborates with musicologist and performer Jed Wentz on Cineconcerts, in which she performs live piano improvisations and recitals to classic silent films from the 1920s, including Tartuffe, Faust, and Nosferatu. Presented annually at Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, the project has also toured to Brussels, Cologne, and Potsdam.
In the upcoming season, Olga appears with Concerto Köln, Tbilisi Baroque, and the Orfeo Orchestra at the Haydneum Festival, and makes recital debuts at Prague’s Rudolfinum and the Kölner Philharmonie. Continuing her long-standing artistic partnership with baritone Georg Nigl, she joins him for performances at venues including the Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie Essen, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Vienna State Opera. She also reunites with Jed Wentz for a new series of Cineconcerts - a collaboration they have presented together since 2014 - with performances at AMUZ Antwerp in October and Muziekgebouw Amsterdam in December. Reflecting the breadth of her artistry, Olga will present solo recitals on harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano throughout the 2026/27 season, performing repertoire ranging from J.S. Bach and the Mendelssohn siblings to Ligeti across Europe. Further highlights include the Alpha Classics release of the first volume in her Beethoven Piano Concertos cycle with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, alongside touring and recording projects with Il Gardellino and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century dedicated to Mozart and Beethoven respectively.
An exclusive recording artist with Alpha Classics, Olga has built a diverse and critically acclaimed discography spanning works by Beethoven, Dussek, Kuhlau, Doppler, Schubert, Rihm, Loewe, Schumann, and Wolf. Her 2025 release Guess Who? Fanny & Felix Mendelssohn features selections from Lieder ohne Worte and Lieder für das Pianoforte by both siblings. The album received a Diapason d’Or, five-star reviews in BBC Music Magazine and L’Echo, and extensive international coverage including features in Record Geijutsu, Luister Magazine, and De Volkskrant, as well as broadcasts on NPO Klassiek and BBC Radio 3. It was named one of the “Best Albums of 2025” by The Times and Qobuz.
With Il Gardellino, Olga is currently recording the complete Mozart Piano Concertos as soloist and director from the fortepiano. The latest release, Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 6, 8 & 18, received widespread acclaim, with The Times describing it as “sprightly and sparkling” and BBC Music Magazine calling it “astonishing.” Earlier volumes, featuring Concertos Nos. 9, 17, 20, and 23, also received major recognition, including “Album of the Week” distinctions from Classic FM, NPO Klassiek, NRC, and Klara Radio.
Olga began her musical studies at the Gnessin School of Music with Tatiana Zelikman and gave her first recital in New York at the age of nine. She studied fortepiano and modern piano with Alexei Lubimov, harpsichord with Olga Martynova, and organ with Alexei Schmitov at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, before continuing her studies with Richard Egarr at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she graduated in 2014. She currently serves as Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and is based in the Netherlands.
%20Evy_Ottermans_IMC_9055%201.webp)
