Of Austrian and French-Italian origin, Bruno Leonardo Gelber was born in Argentina to musical parents and was introduced to the piano at the age of three by his mother, who will remain the most important adviser to him. He made his first public appearance in Argentina at the age of five and when he was six he began to study with Vincenzo Scaramuzza.

A year later Gelber contracted polio which completely confined him to bed for more than twelve months. But as music was the most important part of his life, his parents had the family piano adjusted so that it could slide above his bed and the young Gelber could continue to practise.

By the age of fifteen Gelber had become a household name in South America (having played the Schumann concerto under Lorin Maazel) and he was given a grant by the French government which enabled him to travel to Paris to study. Marguerite Long heard him play there and she declared that he would be her last pupil, but that he would undoubtedly be her finest. His international career began when he became a prize winner in the Marguerite Long Piano Competition.

In Europe Bruno Leonardo Gelber has been engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, London Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He has also performed at the Vienna Musikverein, La Scala Milan, and at the Salzburg, Grenada, Aix-en-Provence, Lucerne and Zurich Festivals. In the United States Gelber gave his concerto debut under Ernest Ansermet at the Stanford Festival, has played with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras among others, and performed at Carnegie Hall, where his performance of Schoenberg was highly acclaimed.

Gelber has worked with conductors such as Sergio Celibidache, Riccardo Chailly, Antal Dorati, Sir Colin Davis, Franz-Paul Decker, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Claus Peter Flor, Bernard Haitink, James Judd, Emmanuel Krivine, Erich Leinsdorf, Ferdinand Leitner, Kurt Masur, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Georges Szell, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jeffrey Tate, Klaus Tennstedt and David Zinman.

In June 1996 Gelber toured Australia with huge success. This season's engagements include further appearances throughout Japan (where he will play with the NHK Orchestra and Charles Dutoit), the USA and Europe (Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, and in many cities in Germany and Italy).

Altogether Gelber has given more than 4500 concerts. The prestigious critic of Munich, Kaiser, wrote of him, "He is a marvel". Arthur Rubinstein considered him one of the greatest pianists of his generation and chose him to participate in a film that François Reichenbach dedicated to Rubinstein.

Bruno Leonardo Gelber's recordings, all of which have been universally acclaimed, have won several prestigious awards, including two Grand Prix de L'Académie Charles Cros and Le Prix de l'Académie de Paris. His recordings for EMI include a remarkable recording of both Brahms Piano Concertos, the Third and Fifth Beethoven Piano Concertos, and a recording of Romantic Sonatas. For Denon he is in the process of recording the complete Beethoven Sonatas, the first release of which was recognised by the New York Times as one of the best recordings of 1989. Of the four Beethoven discs which are currently available, CD Review Magazine wrote "... quite simply the finest I have ever heard ... I could eulogise about the rest but there is no need; THIS IS A PIANIST IN A MILLION. All in all, four CDs to really listen to and talk about."

"He is one of those artists who teach us more about those works we thought we knew well and who will in the future, we know, continue to teach us yet more." (Clarendon)