Paul Rivinius, born in 1970, received his first piano lessons at the age of five. His early teachers were Gustaf Grosch in Munich, followed by Alexander Sellier, Walter Blankenheim and Nerine Barrett at the Saarland University of Music. From the age of ten, he additionally studied the French horn with Manfred Neuman, became a member of the German National Youth Orchestra (Bundesjugendorchester) in 1985, and won first prize at the national competition “Jugend musiziert” in 1987.
After completing his secondary education, he studied horn with Marie-Luise Neunecker and piano with Raymund Havenith at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. In 1994, he was admitted to the masterclass of Gerhard Oppitz at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts, graduating with distinction in 1998.
Paul Rivinius established himself as a chamber musician with the Clemente Trio, founded in 1986. After winning several prizes, the trio won the ARD International Music Competition in 1998 and subsequently toured as a selected “Rising Star” ensemble in ten of the world’s most important concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York and Wigmore Hall in London.
Since childhood, he has also performed together with his brothers Siegfried, Gustav and Benjamin in the Rivinius Piano Quartet. In addition, he has been the pianist of the Mozart Piano Quartet since 2004, an ensemble that has gained international renown through extensive tours to North and South America and Asia. In 2018, the Mozart Piano Quartet received the Opus Klassik Award for its recording of the piano quartet by Georg Hendrik Witte (MDG Dabringhaus & Grimm).
Alongside his longstanding work in these ensembles, Paul Rivinius has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists, including Thomas Brandis, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Lena Neudauer, Sharon Kam, Thorsten Johanns, Wolfgang Boettcher, Harvey Shapiro, Julian Steckel and Maximilian Hornung. He has also been a regular guest at international festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, “Spannungen” in Heimbach, the Rheingau Music Festival and the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw.
Numerous radio recordings and CD productions document his artistic work, including collaborations with the internationally acclaimed Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling.
Paul Rivinius taught for many years at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and most recently served as Professor of Chamber Music at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. He now lives in Munich.