Pianist Khatia Buniatishvili named top European channel’s musician of the year

Award-winning Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili has claimed another international prize - last week Europe's most viewed television channel TF1 named her Musician of the Year.

On December 9, the French TV channel held its annual awards ceremony honouring artists, sportspeople and media personalities of 2016.

Buniatishvili was at the awards ceremony and collected the special prize before addressing the audience in her acceptance speech.

Khatia becomes #QdOR Musician 2016 @Qofficiel avec #YannBarthes on @TF1https://t.co/flvAIF0ZLy

— Khatia Buniatishvili (@BuniatishviliKh) 11 December 2016

The Paris-based Georgian pianist was praised by the TV channel as a "piano virtuoso"; during her musical career she has played concerts alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic.

As a private national French channel, TF1 is the most popular network in the country and the most viewed TV channel in Europe.

It is also one of the oldest TV stations worldwide, with its forerunner Radio-PTT Vision founded in 1935.

See pianist Khatia Buniatishvili perform Piano Concerto by Schumann below:

Khatia Buniatishvili has risen to global prominence with performances at famous venues including the Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States in January this year.

Working with the prestigious Sony Classical music label, she has been awarded for her performances with various prizes and featured alongside famous classical and pop music figures.

Earlier this year Buniatishvili received the ECHO Klassik 2016 Award from Germany's Music Industry Association and featured on the album A Head Full of Dreams by British pop music band Coldplay.

Buniatishvili released her own 2016 album Kaleidoscope in February 2016.