Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Behzod began playing the piano aged five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent. In 2009, he won first prize at the London International Piano Competition with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3. He is Artist-in-Residence at the International Center for Music at Park University where he studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch.
Behzod has performed with leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, San Francisco Symphony and Wiener Symphoniker. Conductor collaborations include Semyon Bychkov, Constantinos Carydis, Gustavo Dudamel, Edward Gardner, Gustavo Gimeno, Jakub Hrůša, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Vasily Petrenko, Aziz Shokhakimov, Juraj Valčuha, and Long Yu.
Behzod’s critically acclaimed recordings have won numerous international awards including the Choc de Classica and Diapason Découverte. He records for Alpha Classics. Shadows of My Ancestors, his second recital recording for Alpha Classics released in January 2024, features works by Ravel, Prokofiev, and Uzbek composer Dilorom Saidaminova. It was recognized as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, shortlisted for a Gramophone Award, and named one of Apple Music’s ‘10 Classical Albums You Must Hear This Month’. His first recital album for Alpha Classics in 2021 includes Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In 2020, two of his albums were nominated for the 2020 Opus Klassik awards in multiple categories: Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, recorded on the composer’s own piano from Villa Senar for Sony Classical, and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 with Concertgebouw Orchestra, for the RCO live label.
Behzod’s recitals have been streamed and broadcast on international channels, including medici.tv, and a DVD of his 2016 BBC Proms debut (2016) with the Münchner Philharmoniker was released in 2018.