He established his reputation as one of the leading Austrian pianists of his generation with the "Mozart Prize" and the "Schumann Prize" at the 2003 Géza Anda Concours in Zurich, having already made a name for himself with 2nd prize at the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna in 1997 and victory at the "Bösendorfer Competition".
He was born in Vienna and studied there at the University of Music and Performing Arts with Imola Joo, Hans Graf and Hans Petermandl. From 1993 to 1995 he attended the master school of Maria Tipo in Fiesole, graduating with honors in 1997.
He is a regular guest at the Vienna Musikverein and the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Klangbogen Wien, the Wiener Festwochen, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Gubbio Festival (Umbria), the Helsinki Festival, the Chamber Music Festival Lockenhaus, among others. Concert appearances have taken him to all the countries of Europe, to Japan, Mexico and the USA, where he made his debut in 1995 with great success at Carnegie Hall, New York.
He has performed with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Scottish Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna RSO, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under conductors such as Kristjan Järvi, Michel Plasson, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Vladimir Fedosejev, Walter Weller, Andrew Litton, Johannes Wildner, Dennis Russell Davies, and Thomas Zehetmair.
Chamber music is very close to his heart. He plays regularly with violinist Réka Szilvay, with whom he performed in the great halls of Europe and Carnegie Hall in 2001 as part of the "Rising Stars" concert series, and he has a long-standing collaboration with tenor Werner Güra. He has recorded numerous CDs, and his three recordings with Werner Güra were awarded the "Diapason d'or".