Elmar Gasanov was born in Sevastopol. In 1990 he began playing the piano with Tatyana Kim at the Music School No.1. After studying for eleven years there he continued his education in the Musical College under the Moscow State Conservatory and the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied under renowned Russian musician and teacher Professor Ludmila Roshina. In 2010 he succesfully passed his exams and got full scholarship for studying in the Royal College of Music in London where he spent two years with a great musician Vanessa Latarche. Elmar drew attention to himself by winning prizes at various international piano competitions, such as the Highest Prize in the International Competition "In the home town of Prokofiev" in 1999. In the same year he also came third in the International Competition "In Memory of V.Horowitz". In 2000 he was the winner of the International Krainev Competition. In 2006 he was the winner of Liszt-Bartok Piano Competition in Budapest. In 2009 he got the second prize and Audience prize in Hamamatsu International piano competition. In 2010, he got the third prize in Isangyun piano competition (Korea). In 2011 he got the fifth prize in 3rd Hong Kong Piano Competition. In 2012 he got the third prize and Schumann prize in Geza Anda piano competition in Zurich. Elmar has given solo and concerto performances not just in Russia, but also in Hungary (inc. Budapest Spring Festival), Germany (inc. Baden-Baden Summer Festival), France (inc. Colmar Festival), Holland, Austria, England (inc. Campden Music Festival), Turkey, Brazil, USA, Slovakia, Sloveniya, Ukraine, Switzerland ( Zurich Tonhalle, Paul Klee Centre Berne, Crans-Montana, Gstaad Menuhin Festival).

Elmar regularly works with the many wonderful orchestras and conductors, among them the Musikkollegium Winterthur under Theodor Guschlbauer, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich under David Zinman, Concerto Budapest under Andras Keller, the INSO Orchestra Lviv under Georg Kugi and others, and The Hong Kong Philarmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy. At present, Elmar teaches at Moscow State Conservatory and Academic Music College of the Moscow Conservatory.