Karolina Aavik is an acclaimed Estonian pianist who this year features in Deutsche Grammophon’s new “Rising Stars” series on STAGE+. Dedicated mostly to chamber music, she performs regularly in Estonia, Germany and throughout Europe.
Karolina Aavik’s debut album “A E T E R N U S” focused on works by Bach, Schubert and Pärt. Recorded with violinist Hans Christian Aavik the album was launched in 2021 at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Tallinn. For Deutsche Grammophon’s “Rising Stars” the duo recorded George Enescu’s Violin Sonata No. 3 and works by contemporary American and Estonian composers Morten Lauridsen and Eduard Oja.
Estonian music features regularly in Karolina’s recital programmes and was the focus of one of two concerts she performed with Hans Christian Aavik at the 2022 Usedomer Festival in Germany. In 2023 and 2024 they premiere several new works during a residency for the Estonian Cultural Endowment, including a violin and piano concerto written especially for them by Tõnu Kõrvits.
Currently completing her studies at the Frankfurt Academy of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Angelika Merkle, Karolina Aavik has received additional valuable guidance in Vienna from Prof. Christoph
Eggner and Prof. Jevgueni Sinaiski. She has also been greatly influenced by Sten Lassmann, Sophia Rahman, Erik Schumann, Steven Isserlis, Antoine Tamestit and many others.
Karolina has won prizes in several competitions both as soloist and chamber musician, including “Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt”, “Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition”, “VII
International Stasis Vainiunas Competition”.