Julius Asal

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Praised by Menahem Pressler for his ‘uniquely beautiful sound and special sonority’, German pianist Julius Asal is quickly establishing himself as one of the promising performers of his generation.

He is a regular guest at international festivals (Oxford Piano Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) and has performed in prestigious concert halls including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Merkin Concert Hall New York and the Musikverein Vienna. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the German Radio Philharmonic, the St. Andrew Symphony Orchestra Edinburgh and the Brandenburg State Orchestra. 

Born in 1997 into a musical family, he began to improvise on the piano at the age of three and in 2005 received his first lessons from Sibylle Cada. Two years later, he became a pupil of Wolfgang Hess before becoming a student of Oliver Kern at the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt in 2013. Since spring 2017, Julius has been living in his adopted home of Berlin, where he is continuing his studies with Professor Eldar Nebolsin at the Hanns Eisler University of Music.

In his young career, Julius has crossed paths with musicians such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anne Queffélec, Tabea Zimmermann, Sir András Schiff, Christoph Eschenbach, Menahem Pressler, Richard Goode, Marios Papadopoulos, Boris Berezovsky and the Fauré Quartet. He has also received artistic guidance from professors Antje Weithaas, Angelika Merkle, Anna Barutti, Eberhard Feltz, Thomas Hoppe, Eugen Wangler, Bernhard Wetz, Claudio Martínez Mehner and Jerome Rose.

In 2012, Julius founded the Arcon Trio and since 2016 he has also performed regularly with the internationally renowned violinist Anne Luisa Kramb.

Julius is frequently present on the international competition scene, winning his first competition at age of nine. He is a first prize winner of the Goldene Taste International Piano Competition, the Mendelssohn Piano Competition and the Lions Music Award. In August 2017, at the age of 20, he was the only German in the finals of the Busoni Competition in Italy and a week later he won the Young Concert Artists European Auditions. He has also been awarded the Steinway Prize and has received scholarships from the Oxford Philharmonic Society, the PE Funding Association, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the RC Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Ferruccio Busoni Foundation. In 2020 he received the Deutschlandstipendium, through which he is supported by Yamaha Music Europe GmbH. He was also awarded the Silver Medal at the Palma d’Oro International Piano Competition and received Special Prizes at the International Brahms Competition and the ‘Ton und Erklärung’ Piano Competition.

In addition to his activities as a soloist and chamber musician, Julius also devotes himself to lecture recitals and musical readings, recently leading to collaborations with international actors