Undoubtedly one of the most prominent harpsichord and forte piano performers in the world, Andreas Staier embarked upon a solo career in 1986 and, since then, his indisputable musical mastery has made its mark on the interpretation of baroque, classical and romantic repertoire. Born in Göttingen, Andreas studied modern piano and harpsichord in Hannover and Amsterdam. For three years, he was the harpsichordist of Musica Antiqua Köln with whom he toured and recorded extensively. As a soloist, Andreas Staier performs throughout Europe, the United States and Japan with orchestras such as Concerto Köln, Freiburger Barockorchester, the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées Paris. Andreas has been invited to leading international festivals including the Festival de La Roque d'Anthéron, Festival de Saintes, Festival de Montreux, Edinburgh International Festival, Styriarte Graz, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Schlweswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Bach-Fest Leipzig, Bachtage Berlin, Bachwoche Ansbach and Kissinger Sommer. He has also performed in all the major venues in Europe, America and Japan, including Konzerthaus, Wien; Konzerthaus, Philharmonie, Berlin; Kölner Philharmonie; Gewandhaus Leipzig; Alte Oper Frankfurt; Tonhalle Düsseldorf; Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, London; De Singel Antwerp; Concertgebouw Amsterdam ; Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels ; Tonhalle Zürich ; Cité de la Musique, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Ircam, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris ; Teatro della Pergola, Florence ; Sala Filarmonica, Roma ; Toppan Hall, Suntory Hall, Tokyo ; Carnegie Hall, New York. Andreas Staier has performed with internationally renowned artists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Pedro Memelsdorff and Alexej Lubimov, and his close collaboration with tenor Christoph Prégardien is attested to in their recordings of German lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Lachner and Brahms. He has formed a highly successful trio with violinist Daniel Sepec and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras; they have recently recorded their first CD (Beethoven) for Harmonia Mundi. In 2001, Andreas gave the world premiere of 'Contra-Sonata', a work for fortepiano by the French composer Brice Pauset, which he also recorded for AEON. His extensive discography has won great critical awards from the international press, whether for BMG, Teldec Classics (with whom he had an exclusive contract for seven years) or Harmonia Mundi for whom he released his last five recordings: Mozart's Sonatas in two CDs, Haydn concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Hamburg 1734 (with the German harpsichordist Christine Schornsheim). More recently, he has recorded Beethoven's sonatas for violin and piano with Daniel Sepec performing on Beethoven's own instrument and a Mozart CD performing on Johann Andreas Stein's vis-à-vis instrument with Christine Schornsheim, which was awarded the Diapason d'Or and the CHOC du Monde de La Musique.