Phu Koanantakool

 Phu Koanantakool was born in 1985. He was a speed metal drummer before he began to study piano at 17 with Khomkam Chaleypoj. He was admitted to Silpakorn University in 2003, where he studied with Jun Komatsu and Jamorn Supapol. In 2005, he passed the entrance examination for the prestigious Mozarteum University in Salzburg, studying under Prof. Gereon Kleiner.

Despite the relative brevity of his formal training, Phu’s deep commitment to the piano has established him as one of the most sought-after Thai pianists, both nationally and internationally.

Phu has participated in numerous masterclasses with distinguished artists such as L. Grychtołowna, K. Popowa-Zydroń, R. Levin, A. Schiff, K.H. Kämmerling, A. Jasinski, H. Leygraf, D. Bashkirov, G. Steinschaden, G. Romero, O. Łazarska, S. Kutrzeba, S. Dorenski, M. Szczepanski, R. Plagge, M. Mollova, and J.F. Antonioli. He has also taken private lessons with esteemed pianists including D. Parakhina, V. Krainev, P. Zereu, S. Koch, M. Ivanova, B. Lerner, Eri Nakagawa, W. Schmitt-Leonardy, C. Keller, and S. Bhanomyong. Notably, he was among the final students of the late Thai National Artist Piyabhand Sanitwongse na Ayutthaya.

Phu earned his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from HEMU Haute École de Musique (University of Music Lausanne), where he studied with J.F. Antonioli and R. Castro, and received chamber music coaching from Vincent Coq. He later completed his Master’s degree at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music under the tutelage of P. Paleczny and K. Jankowska.

He has performed across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, and Russia. Phu made his debut in Bangkok in 2010 with a landmark performance of Chopin’s complete 24 Études. In 2022, he became the first Thai pianist to perform the complete set of Liszt’s 12 Études d’exécution transcendante.

In 2023, Phu founded the Thailand International Piano Festival in Bangkok and currently serves as its artistic director. That same year, he made his Belgium and Hungary recital debuts in Ghent and at the Franz Liszt Memorial Museum in Budapest. In 2024, he was invited to perform at the International Piano Festival Musical Floralia in Poland and made his debut at the renowned Koncert Chopinowski w Łazienkach Królewskich in Warsaw, performing under the Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park before an audience of over 2,000 people.