Paul Gulda

Paul Gulda was born in Vienna as the second son of the pianist Friedrich Gulda and his wife Paola Loew, actress at the Volks and Burgtheater. He got an early musical education in violin from the age of 5, and pianofrom the age of 8 (Fritz Pauer, Roland Batik; including improvisation lessons). He also studied recorder and clarinet at the MDW Vienna.

At 15 he studied piano with F. Gulda, which led to his first chamber music concert appearances. He debuted in 1982 as part of the piano duo Batik / Gulda, and made national and international concert appearances. He continued his studies with Leonid Brumberg (assistant to H. Neuhaus) 1984 - 1987 and made his final studies with Rudolf Serkin, USA.

His career continued with chamber music (Heinrich Schiff, Hagen Quartet, Wolfgang Schulz, Ensemble Vienna - Berlin, etc.) and as a soloist, performing with the Vienna Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra, RSO, Mozarteum, Moscow Tchaikovsky Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Leipzig and others. He enjoyed cooperation with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Fedoseyev and others

From 1996 onward Paul expanded his musical interests, moving into improvization, ensemble leader, and composer. 

VOICES IN ECHO - A MUSICAL DISCOURSE was created on the 54th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp. He presented improvisation performances with Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone, with cantor Shmuel Barzilai (Synagogue Vienna), with oud player and singer Marwan Abado (Beirut), with painter Erdmuthe Scherzer - Klinger, with Viennese singer Agnes Palmisano, cellist Erich O. Hütter and jazz musicians like Harry Sokal and Fabian Rucker.

The concert project HAYDN ALLA ZINGARESE, created in 1993 in cooperation with Italian musicians, was updated for Haydn Year 2009. In the Liszt year 2011 he collaborated with the same musicians on ROMA - RHAPSODY, comprised of Franz Liszt and Gypsy Music.

His intensive focus on the work of JS Bach also includes playing the harpsichord and clavichord.

To date Paulo has approximately 30 CD releases, including those with with German Grammophone, MDG, JVC, Naxos, Gramola Vienna.

He has many years of pedagogical practice, including regular master courses in several countries  since 1998, and from 2001 - 2003 as a visiting professor at the Vienna University of Music. Between 2013 and 2016 he was a lecturer at the private music boarding school AMADEUS, Vienna.

Paul remains highly committed to in various civil society issues. He is the co-founder and chairman of the REFUGIUS Rechnitz initiative.