An artist with a one thousand and one lives, Nicolas Horvath began his musical studies at the Prince Rainier III Academy of Music in Monaco. At the age of 16, he brings attention of the American conductor Lawrence Foster who obtained him a scholarship from the Princess Grace Foundation to deepen his pianism with Gabriel Chodos for 9 months. On his return, he worked with Elzbieta Glabowna who introduced him to the Chopin tradition.
His masters are leading international pianists such as Bruno-Léonardo Gelber, Gérard Frémy, Eric Heidsieck, Gabriel Tacchino, Nelson Delle-Vigne, Philippe Entremont, Oxana Yablonskaya and Franz Liszt specialist Leslie Howard. The latter, by inviting Nicolas Horvath to give a concert at the Liszt Society in the United Kingdom, allowed him to become a recognized interpreter of this composer.
At the start of his career, Nicolas Horvath won a large number of competitions including first prizes at the Alexandre Scriabin and Luigi Nono international competitions, and the Franz Liszt Prize in Yokohama.
Famous for his boundless musical explorations, Nicolas Horvath is not only a rediscoverer of neglected composers such as Moondog, Champion de Chambonnières, Ferdinand Herold, Nobuo Uematsu, Karl August Hermann, or unjustly forgotten works such as Le Fils des Étoiles by Satie, Liszt's Christus or Debussy's Fall of the House of Usher... but also an enthusiast of the music of our time. Indeed, an active member of the experimental underground scene of the 2000s and an electroacoustic composer, he works with big names on the current scene (Alvin Lucier, La Monte Young, Terry Riley, François Bayle, Jaan Rääts...), with a few notable collaborations, notably with Merzbow, Lustmord and Vordb. Nicolas Horvath also stands out for his official transcriptions which he produces in the pure Lisztian tradition in pop and metal (Studio Ghibli, Tim Burton, SNK Neo-Geo, Soror Dolorosa, Alcest...). To continue to support the composers of our time, Nicolas Horvath created in 2021 with the 1001 notes label, the Nicolas Horvath Discoveries label, on which the performer offers monographs for each of the composers identified by the artist.
His career is also marked by the long concerts that he is one of the few to offer, and which are among the longest concerts in history. The complete works Philip Glass and Erik Satie together brought together more than 25,000 people during their performance in the great hall (Salle Boulez) of the Philharmonie de Paris. In 2019, he was chosen by Philip Glass to participate in the concert event in the same Parisian venue, “Philip Glass & Friends”.
Finally, for almost 10 years, Nicolas Horvath has worked in close collaboration with musicologists experts in French music, Robert Orledge and Deborah Hayes. These collaborations gave rise to the production of numerous first world recordings (Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre) and allowed Nicolas Horvath to gain expertise in the field of French salon music of the 18th and 19th centuries (Brillon de Jouy, Hélène de Montgeroult). These recordings were unanimously praised by the press, including three nominations for the ICMA Awards.
His Nocturnes Secrets album is the latest gem that the artist offers us, shedding light on an essential classical composer, Frédéric Chopin, a complete work produced in close collaboration with musicologist Déborah Hayes.