Biography
Esther Birringer emerged as a piano prodigy who matured into a versatile performer of chamber works, orchestral concertos, and solo repertoire. Her engagements as a soloist have spanned major concert halls and ocean liners alike.
Born on October 22, 1983, in Quierschied, a suburb of Saarbrücken in what was then West Germany, she shares a close musical partnership with her sister, violinist Lea Birringer, with whom she has appeared and recorded extensively. Already interpreting piano pieces by age three, Birringer made her orchestral debut at six in a Haydn keyboard concerto. During her formative years she appeared not only throughout Germany but also in Italy and Switzerland.
She entered the University of Music, Drama, and Media in Hannover in 2003, studying with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and completing a bachelor’s degree. Further training followed there with Arie Vardi and at the University of the Arts in Berlin with Pascal Devoyon; she has also cited pianist Cécile Ousset as an important influence. Prizes secured during her student period advanced her trajectory, notably those from the Sixth International Johann Sebastian Bach Piano Competition in Würzburg, the Ninth International Piano Competition of the Chopin Society in Hannover, and the International Grieg Piano Competition in Oslo.
Her recording debut arrived in 2014, when she accompanied Lea Birringer on an album of sonatas by Szymanowski, Respighi, and Hindemith. Appearances have taken her to such prominent spaces as the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy. Concerto performances have featured the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, among other ensembles.
With the ballet company of the Bremerhaven City Theater she realized a music-and-dance collaboration centered on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. Solo credits further include recitals aboard the cruise ships MS Europa and MS Europa 2. As a chamber musician she has collaborated not only with her sister but also with cellist Julian Arp, hornist Robert Langbein, and the Szymanowski String Quartet. For the Rubicon Classics label she has recorded repeatedly as both soloist and accompanist, among them a 2022 solo program of piano works by Debussy.
Born on October 22, 1983, in Quierschied, a suburb of Saarbrücken in what was then West Germany, she shares a close musical partnership with her sister, violinist Lea Birringer, with whom she has appeared and recorded extensively. Already interpreting piano pieces by age three, Birringer made her orchestral debut at six in a Haydn keyboard concerto. During her formative years she appeared not only throughout Germany but also in Italy and Switzerland.
She entered the University of Music, Drama, and Media in Hannover in 2003, studying with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and completing a bachelor’s degree. Further training followed there with Arie Vardi and at the University of the Arts in Berlin with Pascal Devoyon; she has also cited pianist Cécile Ousset as an important influence. Prizes secured during her student period advanced her trajectory, notably those from the Sixth International Johann Sebastian Bach Piano Competition in Würzburg, the Ninth International Piano Competition of the Chopin Society in Hannover, and the International Grieg Piano Competition in Oslo.
Her recording debut arrived in 2014, when she accompanied Lea Birringer on an album of sonatas by Szymanowski, Respighi, and Hindemith. Appearances have taken her to such prominent spaces as the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy. Concerto performances have featured the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, among other ensembles.
With the ballet company of the Bremerhaven City Theater she realized a music-and-dance collaboration centered on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. Solo credits further include recitals aboard the cruise ships MS Europa and MS Europa 2. As a chamber musician she has collaborated not only with her sister but also with cellist Julian Arp, hornist Robert Langbein, and the Szymanowski String Quartet. For the Rubicon Classics label she has recorded repeatedly as both soloist and accompanist, among them a 2022 solo program of piano works by Debussy.
Albums
Singles
