Georgian pianist returns to thrill with Chinese orchestra

The competition was broadcast by BBC worldwide, and this brought Buniatishvili opportunities to give solo recitals and play chamber music concerts at renowned venues, including London's Wigmore Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and Carnegie Hall in the United States. She also regularly collaborated with BBC orchestras as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2009-2011.

She attributes her achievements to her personality of "not being afraid of breaking the rules" and "enjoying the fantasy of art".

In 2011, she released her debut album on Sony Classical Records marking Liszt's 200th anniversary. A year later, she released a Chopin album.

Based in Paris, Buniatishvili longs for home and she expresses this feeling in her third album, Motherland, in 2014. It comprises 17 tracks and has works by Bach, Debussy and Dvorak.

She dedicated the album to her mother, who, not only introduced her to music, but now helps as her stylist, buying and even designing clothes for her.

Buniatishvili's elder sister Gvantsa is also a pianist and they have performed duets at home since childhood.

Buniatishvili plans to bring her sister to China next year to play "four hands".

"We have different personalities and different approaches when it comes to musical expression. I am more like air and my sister is like earth. But we know each other very well and people usually think of our performance as that which comes from one person," says Buniatishvili.