Lana Suran is an award-winning Swedish pianist and one of the leading Scandinavian pianists of her generation. Hailed by the Augsburger Allgemeine as ‘simply an outstanding artist’, Lana is armed with the insights that flow from a deep understanding of her nature and the ability to communicate the most powerful and personal emotions. Her expressive pianism rises directly from the heart to reveal the tremendous vitality and range of her inner emotional landscape. The eloquent honesty of her interpretations is supported by a rare sensibility for tonal nuance and shading, a combination that gives surging life to strikingly mature performances of an equally striking range of repertoire. 

Lana’s artistic credo has been shaped by her determination to grow naturally as a performer, without undue haste or cutting corners. “Making music, for me,” she notes, “is something that cannot be compromised. I want people to feel something when they hear me play. This demands giving more of everything, physically, emotionally, spiritually.” Fluent in six languages and at home on both sides of the Atlantic, her cosmopolitan outlook is reflected in the breadth of her recital programmes and explorations in the field of chamber music. Her repertoire list encompasses the great landmarks of the keyboard literature, including Beethoven’s ‘Diabelli’ Variations, Chopin’s Ballades and Schumann’s Humoreske and such 20th-century classics as Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Prokofiev’s late piano sonatas. 

Lana has collaborated in person with James MacMillan, Frederic Rzewski and Martin Stauning and programmed pieces by, among others, Thomas Adès, Lera Auerbach, György Kurtág, Valentin Silvestrov and Pēteris Vasks. She is also passionate about chamber music and working with like-minded performers in works from across the chamber repertoire. Above all, however, she is devoted to the fine art of the piano recital. “I think programming is one of the things that makes me me,” she observes. 

In recent seasons Lana has participated in the Cincinnati-based Art of the Piano festival; the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont, where she was a Leon Fleisher Fellow; the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove; Festival Internacional de Música de Esmeraldas; the Schiermonnikoog Festival; the Helsingborg Piano Festival; and the Musica Mundi Chamber Music Festival in Belgium. In December 2021 she made her debut at Flagey in Brussels performing the Mendelssohn Double Concerto for Piano and Violin with Yossif Ivanov under the leadership of Alexei Ogrintchouk. In October 2022 she made her solo debut at “Schubert Days Flagey”, curated by Paul Lewis, and returned in 2023 with the French Ars Nova Ensemble in a performance of Philip Glass Piano Concerto No.3 “Tirol”.

She gave her debut recital at the Copenhagen Philharmonic in May 2023 and will perform Beethoven’s ‘Diabelli’ Variations for her debut appearance at the Antwerp Spring Festival in April 2024, Lana is also making her debut at the Lake George Music Festival in August 2024. As a concerto soloist, she has worked with the Orchestre Chambre Royal de Wallonie, Sweden’s Dalasinfoniettan, the Listening Collectif and such conductors as Daniel Blendulf, Gregory Vajda, Vahan Mardirossian and Alexei Ogrintchouk. 

Lana Suran was born in Stockholm in 1992. Although her immediate family was not musical, they encouraged her to take piano lessons at the age of five and to enroll soon after at Stockholm’s Lilla Akademien or ‘Junior Academy’ to study piano with Elena Power and Victoria Power. Following her debut at the Gothenburg Concert Hall when she was eight, she progressed to win prizes in competitions throughout Scandinavia; she also received several scholarships from the Royal Danish Academy of Music and Royal Swedish Academy of Music, including the Mai von Rosen scholarship. 

Lana successfully auditioned for a place at Walnut Hills School for the Arts near Boston, Massachusetts and began studying there with Tema Blackstone and Hung Kuan Chen. She subsequently enrolled at the school’s sister institution, the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Alexander Korsantia for eight years. Lana continued her studies at the Mannes School of Music in New York with Ursula Oppens and later with Jens Elvekjaer at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. 

After twelve years in the United States, she returned to Europe and joined the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel as an Artist in Residence in 2020 and completed her studies in 2024. Mentored by Avedis Kouyoumdjian and Frank Braley, her studies have been enhanced by masterclasses and coachings with such distinguished artists as Leif Ove Andsnes, Paul Biss, Bertrand Chamayou, the Danish String Quartet, Vladimir Feltsman, Richard Goode, Christian Ihle-Hadland, Anthony Marwood, Sergio Tiempo, Donald Weilerstein, Vivian Hornik-Weilerstein, and by collaborations with Andrey Baranov, Frank Braley, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Philippe Koch, Astrid Schween of the Juilliard Quartet, Philippe Graffin, NOVO String Quartet, Kodály String Quartet and others. 

Lana’s long run of competition successes began in 2001 when she won 1st Prize at the First Swedish Steinway Competition in 2001, she has since been hailed by critics for her “unique poetry and musical drama”. Her competition successes continued in 2023 when she was awarded first prize at the Oxana Yablonskaya International Piano Competition. Other credits include winning 1st Prize at the Berlingske Tidendes Musikkonkurrence in Denmark and RUM Competition for Young Soloists in Sweden, 2nd Prize at the 17th Young Musician International Competition Cittá di Barletta and 3rd Prize at the Rovere d’Oro International Competition in Italy. Lana represented Sweden at the Busoni International Piano Competition (2022) and received the Steinway Award from Mannes School of Music (2019) and the Sigrid Paskéll Award from SWEA International (2015). 

Lana makes her home in Stockholm and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies with Professor Kouyoumdjian at Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW). Her forthcoming engagements during the 24-25-26 season include a UK tour with the critically acclaimed violist Shiry Rashkovsky and concerto debuts in Europe, the United States and South America. “I have been so inspired by my wonderful mentors,” she comments. “They have encouraged me to be open to music of all periods and always to be true to myself. I am excited about the prospects that are opening up for me to connect with new audiences and look forward to exploring fresh creative opportunities.”