Justus Frantz (born 18 May 1944 in Inowrocław, Poland, then Hohensalza, Germany) is a German pianist, conductor, and television personality.
Frantz began playing piano at the age of ten and later studied with Eliza Hansen and Wilhelm Kempff at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg under a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, or German National Scholarship Foundation.[1] In 1967, Frantz and Claus Kanngießer won the second prize at the international music competition of the ARD playing as a cello and piano duo, marking the beginning of his international career. He first played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1970. In 1975, he played in his United States debut concert with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, who became his lifelong friend. Other conductors with whom he has played include Carlo Maria Giulini and Rudolf Kempe. He founded the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in 1986 and became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 1989, a post from which he has since retired. He also founded the Philharmonia of the Nations in 1995. From September 2013 is musical director of The Israel Sinfonietta Beersheba.[2]
In May 2024 Frantz outed himself as bisexual. He had during his life different same-sex partnerships.[3]
Frantz mostly plays music from the Classical and Romantic periods, particularly by Mozart. He has played many pieces for piano duet or four hands with Christoph Eschenbach.
Frantz came under criticism after justifying the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, calling it "making amends for historical wrongdoing"[4] and labeling himself a Putinversteher (Putin sympathizer, literally: "Putin understander"). He repeatedly criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "cultivated man".[5] In February 2023, Frantz was one of the initial signers of a petition calling for an end to military support to Ukraine in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Later that year, Frantz also participated as a judge in the 2023 International Tchaikovsky Competition despite a broader boycott by other musicians and judges amidst the invasion.[6]