John O'Conor, piano, has earned a reputation as a masterful interpreter of the Classic and early-Romantic repertoire. Following initial studies in his native Dublin, he studied in Vienna with the renowned pedagogue Dieter Weber, won first prize at the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna in 1973, and made a special study of Beethoven with the legendary German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. Since then Mr. O'Conor has toured the world playing recitals and concertos and makes regular visits to Europe, the U.S., Japan, Korea, and China. Mr. O'Conor's recordings on the Telarc label have brought him particular renown. CD Review described his box set of the complete Beethoven sonatas as an exemplary recording. The New York Times named his recording of the Beethoven bagatelles the best available. Mr. O'Conor's recording of the John Field nocturnes spent many weeks on the Billboard charts, and recently he recorded the complete Beethoven piano concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andreas Delfs. For his services to music, Mr. O'Conor has been decorated with L'ordre des arts et des lettres by the French government, the Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst by the Austrian government, and many other awards. (2012)