The Austrian pianist Stefan Vladar was born in 1965 and started piano lessons at the age of six. From 1973 he studied at the Vienna University for Music and Arts with Renate Kramer-Preisenhammer and Hans Petermandl. After winning a number of awards in piano competitions in Austria, including the first prize in the Rudolf Heydner Piano Competition, he took the first prize in the 1985 Vienna International Beethoven Competition, the youngest of the 140 competitors.

Stefan Vladar’s subsequent career has brought him a busy schedule of engagements, with performances throughout Europe and appearances in China, Thailand, Japan and Korea, as well as in the United States of America.