The Russian-born pianist Igor Levit has been named as the recipient of the prestigious 2018 Gilmore Artist Award. The Award, one of the richest in classical music, is presented once every four years and comes with a prize of $300,000 – a $50,000 cash grant to be used at the artist’s discretion and $250,000 to support the winner’s chosen projects over a four-year period.

“It is a great honour to receive the Gilmore Award, and I am deeply grateful. The news almost leaves me speechless, but I feel privileged, blessed, and excited,” Levit said on receiving the news. “For me, the purpose of music making and being an artist is to share – to share the past, present, and future of music with my audience as best I can. This award will help me to continue on this path and broaden the possibilities of that sharing.”

Unlike most awards, the candidates for the Gilmore Artist are nominated confidentially without their knowledge by a diverse cross section of international music professionals. The finalists are then secretly followed around the world and evaluated in concert over a two to three-year period by the Gilmore Director and a small, anonymous committee. The seven previous...