Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, José Gallardo began taking piano lessons at the age of five. After studying at the Conservatory in Buenos Aires, he continued his studies with Prof. Poldi Mildner at the Music Department of the University of Mainz and received his diploma in 1997. During this time he discovered his passion for chamber music. He owes musical inspiration to artists such as Menahem Pressler, Alfonso Montecino, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Eberhard Feltz, Sergiu Celibidache, Rosalyn Tureck and Bernard Greenhouse.

José Gallardo has won numerous national and international prizes and plays concerts worldwide at venues such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Philharmonie in Berlin, Wigmore Hall London or the Teatro della Pergola Florence. He has been invited to play at renowned festivals as Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Lucerne Festival, Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Music Days Hitzacker, Kaposfest Ungarn, Cello Festival Kronberg and Chopin Festival in Warsaw.

José Gallardo’s comprehensive chamber music activities and collaborations in Europe, Asia, Israel, Oceania and South America connect him with Vilde Frang, Barnabás Kelemen, Gidon Kremer, Linus Roth, Benjamin Schmid, Nils Mönkemeyer, Tomoko Akasaka, Andreas Ottensamer, Nicolas Altstaedt, Julius Berger, Maximilian Hornung, Benedict Klöckner, Miklós Perényi, and others.

He is a sought-after pianist for studio productions. More than 20 CDs have been released by Warner, Deutsche Grammophone, Challenge Records Int., Genuin, NEON, Oehms Classics and Naxos as well as television and radio productions by BR, SWR, MDR, BBC, RAI and others.

From 1998 to 2008 he was a lecturer at the Department of Music at the University of Mainz, since autumn 2008 he has been teaching at the Leopold Mozart Center of the University of Augsburg. Since 2013 he is, together with Andreas Ottensamer, artistic director of the chamber music festival Bürgenstock Festivals in Lucerne.