Julius Asal

Early life and education

Asal was born on 12 February 1997 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, and grew up in Oberursel in the Taunus mountains near Frankfurt. His mother is a pianist and his father was solo clarinetist at Frankfurt Opera; he is the grandson of German-British Schlager singer Cindy Ellis. He began improvising at the piano at age three, teaching himself by ear, and started formal piano lessons at age eight in 2005 with Sibylle Cada in Frankfurt am Main. From 2007 to 2013 he studied at Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium under Wolfgang Hess, then was a junior student at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt with Oliver Kern from 2013.

After completing his Abitur in German and French in 2015, he moved to Berlin in 2017 to study at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin with Eldar Nebolsin until 2022. From 2021 to 2024 he studied in the Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Pianists at Kronberg Academy, having first met Schiff in 2018 for chamber music coaching. During his studies he also worked with pianists including Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, Kirill Gerstein, and Boris Berezovsky.

Career

Asal appeared as soloist with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Munich Symphonic, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He worked with conductors including Duncan Ward, Andrey Boreyko, Fabio Luisi, Elena Schwarz, Michael Seal, Edwin Outwater, and Dmitri Jurowski. Notable performances include stepping in for Evgeny Kissin in Bologna at the Teatro Manzoni with the Orchestra del Teatro Bologna under Andrey Boreyko's direction, and concerts with Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica.

He performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, the Wiener Musikverein, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tivoli Concert Hall in Utrecht, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Metropolitan Theatre Tokyo, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Seoul Arts Center, Vancouver Playhouse, and Isar Philharmonie Munich. He appeared at festivals including the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, and the Aldeburgh Festival.

Asal created narrative concert programs combining music with literature and presented educational lectures on improvisation. His debut album, released in April 2022 on IBS Classical, featured works by Prokofiev including the Four Pieces Op. 4, Pensées Op. 62, and six pieces from Romeo and Juliet in his own arrangement. It was named Album of the Week by rbbKultur and Klassik Heute, Album of the Month by Stereoplay magazine in July 2022, awarded the Melómano de Oro by Melómano Magazine, and received a nomination for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

In October 2023 he signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut album for the label, Scriabin · Scarlatti, was released in May 2024, pairing Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor with selected preludes and études alongside six keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, connected by his own improvisational transitions. As a BBC New Generation Artist (2024–2026), in March 2025 he became the inaugural Academy of St Martin in the Fields BBC New Generation Associate.

On 3 March 2025, Asal was awarded the Terence Judd-Hallé Award, which includes £7,000, a solo performance with the Hallé orchestra at Bridgewater Hall during the 2025–26 season, a chamber recital with Hallé musicians, and a solo recital in the Manchester Mid-Day Concert Series.

Critical reception

Reviewing the Scriabin · Scarlatti album for International Piano, Bryce Morrison assessed the album's conceptual framework as succeeding primarily because of Asal's committed musicianship, noting that his performances alternate strength and delicacy, from Scarlatti's range and audacity to Scriabin's manic depression. Stephen Greenbank of MusicWeb International called it a remarkably assured debut album, imaginatively constructed, probing and a tribute to sensitivity and outstanding musicianship, praising Asal's sensitive playing responsive to the range and narrative of the music and imbued with a vast palette of colourful sonorities.

Le Monde praised the enchanting uniqueness of his interpretations and his approach to creating secret and subtle alliances in program selection. German publication Klassik Heute highlighted the elemental energies he brings to his playing and his phenomenal gift for subtle mood changes. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described him as a piano genius who looks like a pop star, praising his unique approach of treating old works like pop or jazz as something that lives, that one may continue to tell.

The Telegraph included Asal among the ten most exciting young musicians in the world, noting there's a fierceness in him which belies the elfin blonde looks. Pianist Menahem Pressler stated that Julius Asal's piano playing immediately left him in awe, describing Asal as having a uniquely beautiful sound and special sonority.

Artistic approach

For Julius Asal, improvisation is less a separate skill and more a core part of how he performs. He describes it as a 'tightrope walk' between tradition and innovation, where he tries to honor the composer's original intentions while still bringing his own fresh ideas to the music. He believes that exploring the score freely during improvisation is essential to staying true to what the composer wanted. Asal has also been candid about the pressures of competitions, saying 'I would love to focus on what I really want to do, without having to take care of the right repertoire.'

This passion for overlooked works drove his Scriabin · Scarlatti project, which centered on recording Scriabin's First Sonata—a piece he has always loved and feels is unjustly neglected by other pianists. Beyond performing, Asal works as a transcriber and editor. In 2020, he created his own arrangement of six pieces from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet for solo piano. Later, in 2026, he provided the fingerings for the first Urtext edition of Prokofiev's 'Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet' Op. 75, published by Henle Verlag and edited by Fabian Czolbe.