Paul Lay

Paul Lay, Jazz Pianist and Composer

“Excellent harmonic imagination, highly varied playing, very interesting compositions, and an evident knowledge of jazz history. Paul Lay has everything it takes to last!” — Martial Solal

After studying at the CNSMD in Paris, Paul Lay released his first trio album, « Unveiling », in 2010, which garnered attention immediately : « Paul Lay already has all the qualities of a great artist, with his knowledge of jazz history, harmonic imagination, and a poetic universe far from any conventional ‘pianism’. » — Citizen Jazz

Universally recognized as « one of the greatest jazz pianists of his generation » (Le Monde), Paul Lay has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Prize of the Charles Cros Academy in 2014 for his album « Mikado », which established him on the international scene as a creator. Named Instrumental Artist of the Year at the Victoires du Jazz (2020), Paul Lay is the recipient of many prestigious accolades, such as the Soloist Prize at the La Défense Competition, Moscow Jazz Piano Competition, Martial Solal Competition, Montreux Competition, and the Django Reinhardt Prize from the French Jazz Academy.

An initiator of unique collaborations, Paul created the video-musical performance « Billie Holiday, Passionately » with videographer Olivier Garouste for the La Folle Journée festival in Nantes (2015). This project was performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, and the French May Festival in Hong Kong. As a sought-after sideman, Paul has also been part of the ensembles of Riccardo Del Fra, Géraldine Laurent, Eric le Lann, and Ping Machine.

In 2017, he released two albums, « The Party » (with Dre Pallemaerts and Clemens Van Der Feen) and « Alcazar Memories » (with Isabel Sörling and Simon Tailleu), two unique trios that performed in over 70 concerts around the world.

At the end of 2018, Paul released « Thanks a Million », a duo album with Eric le Lann, which paid a heartfelt tribute to Louis Armstrong and was particularly acclaimed.

Frequently invited abroad, Paul Lay has performed in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Warsaw, and toured extensively in Germany, Russia, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, China, and Japan.

Paul is also an awardee of sponsorships and programs that make him an official representative of French jazz. This led to performances for the International Jazz Day alongside Barbara Hendricks, as part of Marseille European Capital of Culture in 2013, The Bridge in 2017, and with the Centenary Mission for World War I commemorations.

His album « Deep Rivers », with Isabel Sörling and Simon Tailleu, was released in January 2020 and was a great success, leading to about 50 concerts in 2020-2021.

In June 2021, Paul released his first solo piano album « Full Solo » under the Gazebo label, featuring unique recreations of Beethoven’s works. Upon release, the album topped the Fnac Jazz/Blues charts and received multiple accolades, including the Victoires du Jazz.

Since then, Paul’s collaborative projects involving commissioned compositions have grown. In 2024, several new projects emerged. Paul composed part of the soundtrack for Mark Gill’s film « Ravens », presented at the Cannes Festival. That same year, he created an original program with the Chœur de chambre Les Eléments titled « Waves of Light », for which he composed several pieces for choir and jazz trio. 2024 also marks the debut of Paul Lay’s symphonic version of Gershwin’s « Rhapsody in Blue », performed twice with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Avignon-Provence Regional Orchestra. After his 2022 album « Blue in Green: Tribute to Bill Evans » under the Scala Music label, Paul is set to release a new trio album, « L’Odyssée », in the fall of 2024 under Gazebo. This original work, freely inspired by Homer’s « Odyssey » and composed entirely by Lay, solidifies his position as a composer.

Since September 2022, Paul Lay has been a jazz piano professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.

Since 2017, he has been supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of his career.

ALEXANDER Malofeev

The young “Russian genius” (Corriere della Sera) came to international prominence when, in 2014, he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at age thirteen. “Contrary to what could be expected of a youngster …, he demonstrated not only high technical accuracy but also an incredible maturity. Crystal clear sounds and perfect balance revealed his exceptional ability” (Amadeus). Malofeev has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation. His performances have garnered high praise from critics, with publications such as Der Standard declaring his debut at the Musikverein as “a world piano revolution”.

For the 2023-2024 season, highlights include Malofeev’s return to the Bournemouth Symphony for a multi-concert residency, solo tour in China, and European tour with Filarmonica della Scala and Riccardo Chailly, as well as performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Munich Isarphilharmonie, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and Carnegie Hall in New York, continuing to perform with the best orchestras: National Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Kent Nagano and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Marin Alsop and many others.

Maestro Riccardo Chailly said about the pianist: “I first heard Malofeev when Valery Gergiev performed with him at the Teatro alla Scala three years ago. He was only 14, and he amazed me with his talent. Because that is not just a child prodigy: he is very young, but already possesses depth and technical abilities, and also musical and mnemonic, which makes him an excellent interpreter of the 3rd Concerto of Rachmaninov, which is a problem for many pianists in the world.” (Corriere della Sera).

«He is very young,
but already possesses depth,
technical and mnemonic abilities»

«Yamaha Artist»

Alexander was born in Moscow in October 2001. Now residing in Berlin, he continues to give concerts in Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), where he opened the 30th anniversary concert of the renowned Meester Pianists series, Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Musikverein Wien, Kurhaus Wiesbaden (Germany), Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Munich Herkulessaal (Germany), Tanglewood (USA), Philharmonie de Paris, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Theater of the Champs-Elysees (France), Auditorium Parco della Musica in Roma and Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari (Italy), ItalyQueensland Performing Arts Centre (Australia), Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Bunka Kaikan Theatre in Tokyo, Seoul Art Center, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman.

Over the years, he has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille and many others

Alexander Malofeev regularly appears with the most distinguished conductors on a stage today, including Riccardo Chailly, Mikhail Pletnev, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas, JoAnn Falletta, Alain Altinoglu, Susanna Mälkki, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Lionel Bringuier, Alondra de la Parra, Kazuki Yamada, Vasily Petrenko, Juraj Valcuha, Kirill Karabits, Andris Poga, Fabio Luisi and others.

Malofeev was a guest of world famous music festivals and series such as Verbier Festival, International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, Rheingau Music Festival (Germany), Tanglewood Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival (USA), Tsinandali Festival (Georgia), Master Pianist Series (Amsterdam) and Celebrity Series of Boston.

In addition to his 1st prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, he has won numerous awards and prizes at international competitions and festivals, including the Grand Prix of the I International Competition for Young Pianists Grand Piano Competition, the Premio Giovane Talento Musicale dell’anno 2017 (Best Young Musician of 2017). Also in 2017, Alexander became the first Young Yamaha Artist.

Wilhem Latchoumia

A singular pianist, Wilhem Latchoumia serves both contemporary creation and the great repertoire with equal joy and charisma. Designing programs that break away from traditional paths is the hallmark of this French musician, who impresses audiences with his ability to establish an immediate and joyful connection with the public.

Wilhem Latchoumia’s passion for contemporary creation has earned him the favor of composers such as Pierre Boulez, Gérard Pesson, Philippe Hersant, Gilbert Amy, Jonathan Harvey, Michael Jarrell, Franck Bedrossian, and Francesco Filidei. He is the instigator and performer of works inspired by Daughters of the Lonesome Isle by John Cage. He took part in the French premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto under the direction of Jean Deroyer with Orchestre National de Lille. He also participates in choreographic projects such as Achterland by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker or, more recently, he performed alongside Sonia Wieder-Atherton in the creation of Nous, le radeau / We, The Lust by Emio Greco at the Philharmonie de Paris.

In France, Wilhem Latchoumia regularly performs in Paris (Auditorium de Radio France, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Opéra Comique, Cité de la Musique, CENTQUATRE, Festival Présences), at the Théâtre d’Orléans, the Capitole de Toulouse, and Lyon opera. He is a guest at major festivals such as Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, La Roque d’Anthéron, Messiaen au Pays de la Meije, Biennale Musiques en Scène in Lyon (GRAME), and Lille Piano(s) Festival.

Internationally, Wilhem Latchoumia performs at venues such as the Barbican Centre in London, Salle Philharmonique in Liège, BOZAR in Brussels, Concertgebouw in Bruges, as well as in New York, the Beijing Modern Music Festival, the Electronic Music Week in Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Martinique, Italy, San Sebastián, and Berlin.

Wilhem Latchoumia has also performed as a soloist with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Pascal Rophé), Orchestre National de Lille (Paul Polivnik, Benjamin Shwartz, Yann Robin), Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Orchestre National de Lyon, and Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with which he performed Des Canyons aux étoiles by Messiaen under the direction of Jean-François Heisser.

He has performed under the baton of Peter Csaba, Andrei Galanov, and Christian Arming, with Rostov Symphony Orchestra, Liège Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul and Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as with the Teatro Colón Orchestra. He collaborates with the Tokyo Sinfonietta, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (Daniel Kawka), ensembles Ictus, 2e2m, Accroche Note, Hermes, and Linea, violist Christophe Desjardins, Diotima, Tana, and Béla quartets, as well as pianists Marie Vermeulin, Vanessa Wagner, and Cédric Tiberghien.

His discography is rich and varied and always receives the best awards. Since 2014, he has recorded for La Dolce Volta label.

2007 : Piano & Electronic Sounds, features works by Jonathan Harvey, John Cage, Pierre Jodlowski and Luc Ferrari (Choc du Monde de la Musique)
2008 : Impressões, dedicated to Villa-Lobos and Ginastera (Choc du Monde de la Musique, Diapason d’or, “Best recording” from Audio Clásica)
2014 : Extase Maxima, dedicated to Wagner and his transcribers, recorded within a extensive tour supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane (Choc de Classica, Maestro from Pianiste Magazine)
2016 : Falla : Solo Piano Works (5 Diapasons, Maestro from Pianiste Magazine, Joker from Crescendo, FFFF from Télérama)
2019 : Cinderella, works by Prokofiev and Cowell (5 Diapasons, FFFF from Télérama)
2021 : This is America, duo album duo with Vanessa Wagner (Diapason d’or, Choc Classica).
2023 : Do Brasil – Villa-Lobos (Choc Classica, 5 Diapasons)
2024 : Piano Twins, duo album duo with Vanessa Wagner

Wilhem Latchoumia obtained his First Prize at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon (classes of Éric Heidsieck and Géry Moutier). He continued his training in an advanced class with Géry Moutier. A student of Claude Helffer, he also attended masterclasses with Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and György Kurtág. Holder of a degree in musicology, he is a laureate of the Hewlett-Packard Foundation and the 12th Montsalvatge International Contemporary Music Competition (Girona, Spain). In 2006, he won the First Prize with Special Mention Blanche Selva, along with five other prizes at the International Piano Competition of Orléans.

Iddo Bar-Shaï

Born in 1977, Israeli pianist Iddo Bar-Shai trained at the Rubin Academy of Music (Tel-Aviv University) with Bracha Ornan-Margalit and then with Pnina Salzman – a former student of Alfred Cortot at the Ecole Normale de Musique and First Prize in the class of Magda Tagliaferro at the Conservatoire de Paris. He also benefited from the teaching of Alexis Weissenberg. Fellow of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (1988-1999), he has been the winner of numerous national and international competitions.

He is now pursuing his international career in Europe, Asia, Brazil and the United States, in particular on the prestigious stages of the Wigmore Hall (London), the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), the Opera City Hall (Tokyo), Beijing Zhongshan Hall and Fredric R. Mann Auditorium (Tel Aviv).

Partner in chamber music of the Ysaÿe, Aviv, Ebène, Modigliani or American String Quartets, he has been playing with orchestra since the age of twelve, among others with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel, the Lille National Orchestra, the Paris Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Aldo Ceccato, Eliahu Inbal, Sir Lawrence Foster, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Kaspar Zehnder, Günter Pichler …

Invited by Martha Argerich as part of the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano, Iddo Bar-Shai has been playing every year at the Roque d’Anthéron Festival since 2004. He participated in the Festival and the Verbier Academy, on the Steans Institute program. of the Ravinia Festival (USA), the Meslay Barn Festival, the Menton Festival, the Radio France Music Festival in Montpellier, the international chamber music festival in Jerusalem (in Berlin and Jerusalem) as well as than at the Festival de la Folle Journée in Nantes, Lisbon, Tokyo, Warsaw and Rio de Janeiro.

Iddo Bar-Shaï was selected by “Dominicans of Haute-Alsace” as artist-in-residence during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. In this context, he collaborated with the ombromane Philippe Beau to the project “The Wandering Shadows” with keyboard works by François Couperin. This show has been acclaimed by the press and a world tour is planned.

This season is marked by a collaboration with the famous pianist Menahem Pressler, with the performance of Mozart’s double piano concerto and a collaboration with the famous pianist Martha Argerich, with the performance of Bach’s concerto for 4 pianos as well as by chamber music concerts with Alisa Weilerstein, Vilde Frang, Anna Prohaska, Sayaka Shoji …

His concerts have been recorded and broadcast by several European, American and Israeli radio stations. Several concerts have been broadcast on the television channels Mezzo, Arte and NHK. It also appears on the DVD “The Pianos of Tomorrow” (Naïve / Ideal Audience) with the cooperation of channels ARTE and France-3.

His Haydn piano CD, released in 2006 under the Mirare label, won praise from the press. With “5 tuning forks” from Diapason magazine, it has been described as “one of the best recordings ever devoted to Haydn’s piano work” by the World of Music and, by the magazine Piano International, as “an extraordinary record; the acquisition of this CD is de rigueur for all lovers of classical repertoire “and also” This superb recital announces the arrival of a talented pianist who joins his elders, Curzon and Larrocha in Andante, Brendel and Gould for sonatas “by Classica Répertoire. This CD has also been selected and awarded by numerous magazines and radio stations, notably by the magazine International Piano, which has chosen it among the three CDs to receive the “rising star prize for a first recording” as part of the Prize International Piano Festival 2006. In December 2008 his last Chopin mazurkas CD was released by Mirare. He has received unanimous praise in the world with the highest ratings from prestigious newspapers such as Le Figaro and Fonoforum in Germany and has been described as a “magnificent achievement; and confirmation of a new great talent for the current keyboard “(online magazine Classic-news) and” A singular and major record “(Le Devoir). His latest CD released in 2013, entirely devoted to François Couperin’s works, was judged as “a Couperin record as fascinating as the Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould.”

Opus HD magazine, and “a record that attracts, demonstrating that Couperin’s works are as viable on modern piano, and where Bar Shai does a splendid job. You can not go wrong with such an interpretation, finely nuanced and expressive. Fanfare magazine.

Rafal Blechacz

After thirteen years since the victory in the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2005 he has achieved a position of the truly world-famous artist. His outstanding talent has been appreciated by the audiences of Europe, America, Asia, by music critics, great conductors and famous symphony orchestras, record producers, managers and artistic agencies organizing concerts in the most famous concert halls and in the largest music centres.
Last ten years of Rafał Blechacz’s career was filled with the solo recitals as well as concerts performed with the symphony orchestras. First of all however, it was time of intensive work on expanding his repertoire. Winning the Grand Prix, the Gold Medal and all of the other awards possible, namely for the best performance of mazurkas, polonaise, concerto, sonata (the latter founded by Krystian Zimerman) and also the audience award he unquestionably has been recognized as his generation’s greatest performer of Chopin’s works.
In such a role the international audiences wanted to hear and know him better as he never lets them down being able to win people over and gain their affection and appreciation. To meet these demands the young artist embarks on numerous and often long artistic tours. After all, the title of the Chopin Piano Competition Winner carries the meaning and importance. Everyone everywhere would like to listen to him and experience a talent of someone who amidst tough rivalry before distinguished jury proved to be the best one. One can only mention here that the young Polish pianist was definitely head and shoulders above the large and strong – as it is always the case in Warsaw – group of competitors. To emphasize his superiority the jury has not awarded the second prize but only the third and subsequent ones.
The aforementioned artist’s intensive work on developing his repertoire refers of course to Chopin but it is hard to imagine that the pianist of such a rank would not perform works by other composers. Therefore his repertoire is being continuously enlarged with works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Debussy and Szymanowski. From among them the programs of the artist’s albums recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon (currently five) have been selected.
The American Gilmore Artist Award, sometimes called ”the Piano Nobel,” bestowed on Rafal Blechacz in January 2014, is a strong and meaningful acknowledgment that summarizes well the last decade of his artistic activity.

Rafał Blechacz was born in 1985 in Nakło nad Notecią. He started playing piano at the age of five. He studied in the Artur Rubinstein State Primary School of Music in Bydgoszcz under the supervision of Professor Jacek Polański. In 2007 he completed the piano studies in the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in class of Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. Still a student, he received many awards and honours such as the 1st Prize and Grand Prix in the 13th Johann Sebastian Bach National Competition in Gorzów Wielkopolski (1996), the 2nd Prize in the 5th Artur Rubinstein International Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz (2002), the victory in the 5th International Piano Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan (2003).
As the winner of the Grand Prix of the 15th Chopin Piano Competition he started concertizing in the most prestigious venues such as Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Berliner Philharmonie, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Herkulessaal in Munich, Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Royal Festival Hall as well as the Wigmore Hall in London, Tonhalle in Zurich, La Scala in Milan, among others. He is being invited to the best music festivals such as Salzburg, Verbier in Switzerland, La Roque-d’Anthéron (France), Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Germany as well as The Gilmore Festival in the USA. He plays with numerous symphony orchestras, cooperating with outstanding conductors like Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Pavo Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagono, Andris Nelsons, Victor Pablo Perez, Trevor Pinnock, Mikhail Pletnev, Jerzy Semkow, Antoni Wit and Dawid Zinman. In 2006 he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, the German record company. He is the second in history, after Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist signed up by this prestigious label.
Rafal Blechacz’s first album with Fryderyk Chopin’s Preludes appeared in 2007. In Poland it obtained the platinum status just in the second week of sale. It has been honoured with many awards, among others by German Echo Klassik and French Diapason d’Or. The next album, this time with sonatas of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, was released one year later and again it was received very well. After the success of the two first albums the artist celebrated the Chopin’s Year of 2010 with the recording of both Chopin’s Piano Concerts conducted by Jerzy Semkow and legendary Concertgebouw Orchestra, proclaimed in 2009 by the British magazine Gramophone the best orchestra of the world. This time the already third album of Rafał Blechacz was honoured with Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the prestigious award of critics from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Poland it obtained the double platinum status in the short period of time. The next recording with works by Debussy and Szymanowski, due to a thoughtful selection of the repertoire, as well as masterful performance, gained significant publicity and recognition among the international music critics. In 2012 the Deutsche Phono Akademie awarded Blechacz the Echo Klassik prize in category of the Best Solo Album of the Year (19th and 20th century). Furthermore, this same recording was honoured as the Album of the Month by the British magazine Gramophone. It was also recognized with the Polish phonographic Fryderyk Award as the best classical music album of 2013. In the fall of 2013 Rafał Blechacz returned to Chopin’s repertoire recording his seven grand polonaises. This album obtained the gold record status on the first day of sale. Soon after, it was honoured with Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik as the best album in the category Piano music (2013).
In July 2010 Rafał Blechacz received the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena) award for his overall artistic achievements bestowed on him by the international jury of music critics. In January 2014 in New York he was pronounced the winner of The Gilmore 2014 award, highly valued in the piano world, conferred every four years on the most outstanding artist to provide financial support for advancing his/her artistic career.
On February 24, 2015 in Warsaw during the concert in the Warsaw Philharmonic Rafal Blechacz received the President of the Republic of Poland’s medal Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta awarded during the concert at the National Philharmonic.

In February 2017 was released his album with works by Johann Sebastian Bach ‘ . . [a] superb Bach collection mostly of well known works including the “Italian Concerto” and the Hess arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. Exquisite, crystalline pianism, and impeccable performances. This is an outstanding addition to Blechacz’s discography’ – Robert E. Benson, Classicalcdreview.com / 01. March 2017

François Dumont

“Respectful of style, endowed with a fertile imagination, this deep, subtle performer, architect of sound, delivers a vision where intelligence rivals spontaneity.”
– Michel Le Naour – Cadences

François Dumont is the laureate of some of the most prestigious international competitions: the Chopin Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Clara Haskil Competition, and the Monte-Carlo Piano Masters. He has been nominated for the Victoires de la Musique in the ‘instrumental soloist’ category and received the Prix de la Révélation de la Critique Musicale Française.

François Dumont was chosen by Leonard Slatkin to perform and record both of Ravel’s piano concertos with the Orchestre National de Lyon as part of their complete Ravel cycle. The album, released by Naxos, was warmly received by critics: “A very accurate vision of the two concertos; perfect classical clarity in the G major concerto… the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, powerful, even heartbreaking,” writes Jacques Bonnaure in Classica.

He has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colombian National Orchestra, the Orchestre Pasdeloup, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, the Orchestre National des Pays de Loire, and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, working with conductors such as Jesús López-Cobos, Mykola Diadiura, Roberto Fores-Veses, David Reiland, François-Xavier Roth, Aziz Shokhakimov, Alexander Sladkovsky, and Antoni Wit.

Born in Lyon, he studied with Pascale Imbert, Chrystel Saussac, and Hervé Billaut. At the age of fourteen, he entered the C.N.S.M.D. in Paris in Bruno Rigutto’s class. He further refined his skills at the Como International Academy and the Lieven Piano Foundation with Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Staier, and Fou Ts’ong.

François Dumont regularly performs recitals at prestigious festivals such as Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, the Roque d’Anthéron Festival, the Chopin Festival in Nohant, the Chaise-Dieu Festival, the Lisztomanias in Châteauroux, the Chopin Festival in Paris, the Radio-France Montpellier Festival, the Besançon Festival, the Epau Festival, the Nuits Musicales in Uzès, the Nuits du Suquet in Cannes, the Grands Concerts in Lyon, the Chopin Festival in Geneva, the Vézère Festival, the Folles Journées in Nantes, the Sociedad Filarmónica in Bilbao, the Música – Musika Festival in Bilbao, and the Kennedy Center in Washington. He is regularly invited to China, Japan, and South Korea. His solo discography includes the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (Anima Records), a Chopin album, two Bach albums (Artalinna), a Wagner/Liszt album (Piano Classics), a double live album of the Chopin Competition (published by the National Chopin Institute of Warsaw), and the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel (Piano Classics). He has recorded a series of Mozart concertos, about which the press has praised his “cantabile and inspired playing, with a profound understanding of detail” and “a perfect synergy with the musicians.”

His recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes has been highly praised: “In a very crowded repertoire, that of Chopin’s Nocturnes, pianist François Dumont joins the ranks of the greatest. From this essential body of the composer’s music, he offers a vision of rare coherence.” His album dedicated to Fauré’s Nocturnes, recorded on a 1922 Gaveau piano, received the highest accolade, the “Supersonic” award, from the Luxembourg magazine Pizzicato.

In 2022, the pianist released an album dedicated to Chopin’s Ballades and Impromptus, as well as a disc featuring César Franck’s Quintet and Dvořák’s “American” Quartet, in collaboration with the Pražák Quartet.

In 2024, François Dumont recorded his first duo album with cellist Marc Coppey, where they interpret works by Gabriel Fauré. In November 2024, he released his album “Debussy, Clair de Lune”, recorded on the piano of Debussy preserved at the Brive-La-Gaillarde Museum. The album received critical acclaim and prestigious distinctions, such as the Choc Classica: “The instrument touches your heart, but it is the pianist who gives it magic.”

He enjoys performing chamber music with Sayaka Shoji, Marc Coppey, Laurent Korcia, Augustin Dumay, and the Pražák Quartet. He has been forming a duo with soprano Helen Kearns since 2003.

During the 2024-2025 season, he will perform at the Salle Gaveau, with the ONB under the direction of Nicolas Ellis, with the Orchestre d’Auvergne conducted by Thomas Zehetmair, and on tours in Japan (2024) and Chile (2025).

Critics

Dumont, capace di dominare la materia sonora. Davvero degna di nota la presa del suono. Dinamica precisa, dotata di una sua naturalezza e debita velocità […]

Andrea Bedetti, Music Voce***** 2018

With bell-like melodic lines, Dumont elicits a singing tone from the piano. Emotions are to the fore, without the undue histrionics of many Chopin performances.
(OC) ★★★★ BBC Music Magazine, 2018

[…] the rising French pianist François Dumont with a stunning new version […] a clarity, momentum and coherence that immediately grab the ear. His controlled pianissimos imbue the melodies with tender sweetness.

Michael Johnson, International Piano **** 2018

François Dumont’s first issued recordings included a complete set of Mozart sonatas, certainly an unusual opening set. He has been honored in some of the most prestigious piano competitions. I was amused that he was also awarded the “Prix de la Révélation” from a group of French critics. I am not sure what other revelations he is credited with, but he is a wonderful Chopin player, graceful and coherent, expressive and at the same time rhythmically secure. It’s a matter not of avoiding rubato or other expressive gestures, but of making them fit the whole. I just heard the Nocturne in A♭, op. 32/2, and note the beautifully rounded ending of the work, pause and all. He plays the Nocturne, op. 48/1, with the utmost sobriety: It’s a dark-toned work and Dumont renders its particular drama, with its occasional near explosiveness and tenderness, remarkably. His performance of the posthumous Nocturne in C♯ Minor begins in almost otherworldly fashion: There are few recent recordings to compare with this one. He also plays the more forthright Nocturne in C Minor, also posthumous, equally is clearly and warmly recorded.

Fanfare 2018

Duo Jatekok

Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget, inventive and passionate pianists, have formed the Duo Jatekok since 2007, a name meaning “game” in Hungarian, which has become their trademark. Their synergy, contagious energy, and expressiveness have allowed them to establish themselves as a unique duo on both French and international stages. Trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMD) under the guidance of Claire Désert and Ami Flammer, they also perfected their skills at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Belgium, in the class of the Artemis Quartet.

Since their beginnings, they have won several prestigious awards, including those in Rome (2011) and Ghent (2013), before embarking on an international career. They regularly perform as soloists or with orchestras at prestigious venues such as the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron, the Théâtre du Châtelet, La Seine Musicale in Paris, the Flagey and Bozar halls in Brussels, the Auditorium du Louvre, as well as the Opéra de Tours, the Folle Journée de Nantes, the Philharmonie de Shenzhen, the Concert Hall in Hong Kong, and Guatemala, among others.

In 2015, they released their first album Danses on Mirare, followed by The Boys in 2018 on Alpha Classic. These albums have been widely praised by critics and reflect their dynamism and originality. The Duo Jatekok continues to explore new musical horizons, collaborating with artists such as Marina Sosnina and Hoi Chiu (sand art), Julien Cottereau (mime-sound effects), and the Rêvolution company (hip hop). Their openness to crossover music led them to perform as the opening act for the German metal band Rammstein during their European tour in 2019 and to record an album Duo Jatekok plays Rammstein with Universal.

Since 2021, they have staged a show with Alex Vizorek, where together they revisit Le Carnaval des Animaux by Saint-Saëns. In June 2021, they recorded an album Carnaval des Animaux – Double Concerto by Poulenc with the Orchestre National de Lille and Lucie Leguay. The program was highly praised by critics: “Suddenly, the well-worn works of Saint-Saëns reveal themselves to be as sparkling as the vivid colors of the brilliant Poulenc concerto, the perfect complement in this winning bet” (Pianiste Magazine).

In November 2024, the duo will release a new album Sorcellerie, featuring works by Liszt, De Falla, Dujas, and Mussorgsky. Building on this album, the duo will create a concert program of the same name, blending music, shadows, and magic. This program offers fresh perspectives on how to approach classical repertoire.

Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget have won over an audience that appreciates their sincerity, their complicity, and their talent. Jatekok: playing the piano, with the piano, four hands, two pianos, classical, contemporary, with the public, with other musicians, other artists. Playing is the essence of their duo.

Till Fellner

Austrian pianist Till Fellner’s international career was launched in 1993 when he won First Prize at the renowned Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland. Over a period of more than two
decades, he has become a sought-after guest with many of the world’s most important orchestras and at the major music centres of Europe, USA and Japan, as well as numerous festivals.

During the 2017-18 season Till Fellner will debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. Other highlights will include concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Le Concert Olympique, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Last season Till Fellner amongst others performed with the Symphony Orchestras from Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Montreal, Vienna, with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Philharmonia Orchestra London.

Till Fellner has collaborated with Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph von Dohnányi, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Jonathan Nott, Kirill Petrenko, Claudius Traunfellner, and Hans Zender, among many others.

In the field of chamber music Till Fellner regularly collaborates with British tenor Mark Padmore, with whom he premiered a composition by Hans Zender in 2016 and with whom he toured Japan in February 2017. This collaboration will be continued in 2017-18 (amongst others with Lieder recitals in Vienna and Salzburg). Further he regularly performs with the Belcea Quartet.

Over the past few years he has dedicated himself to two milestones of the piano repertoire: The Well-Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach and the 32 piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. He performed the Beethoven cycle from 2008 to 2010 in New York, Washington, Tokyo, London, Paris and Vienna. Furthermore, contemporary music is of great importance to him; he has given the world premieres of works by Kit Armstrong, Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Larcher, Alexander Stankovski and Hans Zender. From 2017-18 onwards – and stretching over two seasons – Till Fellner will present an all Schubert cycle (four concerts in total) which will be presented at the Schubertiade Festival, in Antwerp, Tokyo and Taipei and other cities.

The ECM label, for whom Till Fellner is an exclusive recording artist, has released the First Book of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Two & Three-Part Inventions of J. S. Bach, Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Kent Nagano and, most recently, a CD of chamber music by Harrison Birtwistle. In autumn 2016 Alpha Classics released the recording of the piano quintet by J. Brahms with the Belcea Quartet, this recording received the “Diapason d’Or de l’Annee”.

In his native Vienna, Till Fellner studied with Helene Sedo-Stadler before going on to study privately with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg, and Claus-Christian Schuster.

Since autumn 2013, Till Fellner teaches at the Zurich Hochschule der Künste.

Alexandre Kantorow

In 2019, at age 22, Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the Tchaikovsky Competition’s First Prize, as well as the Grand Prix, awarded only three times before in the competition’s history. Hailed by critics as the “reincarnation of Liszt” (Fanfare Magazine), he received the Gilmore Artist Award 2024, considered one of the most prestigious international piano prizes, and awarded only every 4 years. He is the first French artist and youngest winner of the Gilmore Artist Award.

Alexandre Kantorow began his career at an early age, making his debut at La Folle Journée de Nantes with Sinfonia Varsovia at age 16. Since then, he has performed with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with Manfred Honeck, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko at the BBC Proms in London, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with John Eliot Gardiner, Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev and Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer. Alexandre Kantorow has also performed on prestigious international tours with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden, as well as with the Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru.

In recital, he performs in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium in New York, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in its Master Pianists series, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Brussels’ Bozar, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s City Opera… and in the most prestigious festivals including La Roque d’Anthéron, Ravinia Festival, Verbier Festival and Klavier-Festival Ruhr.

Highlights of the 2024/2025 season include Alexandre’s debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a European tour with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, under Tugan Sokhiev, debut with the Orchestre Metropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He will also perform Brahms’ Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He will make his recital debut in China, including performances in Beijing and Shanghai as part of an Asian tour. In chamber music, he will perform with Janine Jansen and tour with Gautier Capuçon.

Alexandre Kantorow records exclusively for BIS. In 2022, he won two Diapason d’Or de l’Année for his Brahms disc and his Saint-Saëns disc (concertos 1 and 2). The latter disc, which finalizes the complete set of concertos recorded with the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Jean-Jacques Kantorow, has been hailed by critics as a “benchmark version of the Saint- Saëns concertos” (Resmusica). It was also selected by Gramophone magazine in their “Editor’s choice”. His two previous recordings (Saint-Saëns concertos 3, 4 and 5, and solo works by Brahms, Bartok and Liszt) were both awarded Diapason d’Or and Choc Classica of the year in 2019 and 2020. Gramophone magazine describes his performance as “another outstanding example of his virtuosity and artistry, displaying both skill and sensitivity from start to finish”. His recital recording “à la Russe” also won numerous awards and distinctions in 2017, including Choc de l’Année (Classica), Diapason Découverte, Supersonic (Pizzicata) and CD des Doppelmonats (PianoNews). In 2024, the pianist completes his Brahms trilogy with his album “Brahms-Schubert,” an album widely praised by the press (Diapason d’Or, Choc Classica, Trophée Radio Classique) and described as a “stunning release” by Gramophone magazine.

He is a laureate of the Safran Foundation and Banque Populaire. In 2020, he won two awards at the Victoires de la Musique Classique: Recording of the Year and Instrumental Soloist of the Year, the latter also in 2024.

In 2022, he became artistic director of the “Les Rencontres Musicales de Nîmes” festival with violinist Liya Petrova and cellist Aurélien Pascal.

In 2024, Alexandre Kantorow was made Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French President. Two years earlier, in 2022, he had been honored with the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. In July 2024, Alexandre performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

Alexandre Kantorow studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley and Rena Shereshevskaya.

Denis Matsuev

Since his triumph in the 1998 at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition, Denis Matsuev has become a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian pianistic tradition and has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation.

Mr. Matsuev performs with the world’s best known orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapella Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, “Philharmonia” Orchestra of London, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Vienna Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic, Oslo Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium, Swiss Romande orchestra, Lucerne Symphony orchestra, Verbier and Budapest Festival Orchestras, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, NHK Symphony, as well as the European Chamber Orchestra. He is continually re-engaged with the legendary Russian orchestras such as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra.

Denis gives recitals in the USA in Boston, Washington and New York in Carnegie Hall (Keyboard Virtuosos series), in London in Royal Festival Hall (International Piano series), Madrid in Auditorio Nacional de Musica, Amsterdam in Concertgebouw (Master Pianists series) and Moscow (the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory).

Denis Matsuev regularly appears with the most distinguished conductors on a stage today, including Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Ricardo Chailly, Christian Thielemann, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Paavo Jarvi, Antonio Pappano, Charles Dutoit, Alain Gilbert, Leonard Slatkin, Myung-Whun Chung, Semyon Bychkov, Iván Fischer, Adam Fisher, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Manfred Honeck, James Conlon, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Yury Bashmet, Alexander Sladkovsky, K. Jarvi and others.

Mr. Matsuev is a frequent guest of world famous music festivals such as Verbier Festival and Lucerne Music Festival in Switzerland, BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival in Great Britain, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in Germany, Les Chorégies d’Orange and Festival de la Rogue d’Anthéron in France, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl in the U.S., Chopin Festival in Poland, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Mito Festival in Italy, Montreux Festival in Switzerland, Enescu Festival in Romania, Baltic Sea Festival in Sweden and Stars of the White Nights Festival in Russia.

For 11 consecutive years Denis Matsuev has his original series at The Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory “Denis Matsuev invites…”. Many famous orchestras, prominent conductors, outstanding soloists have taken part in it.

In 2010, in Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Philharmonic gave the orchestra’s 15,000th concert – a number unmatched by any other orchestra. Denis Matsuev was a leading soloist in this unprecedented milestone concert, which was conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev, and was praised highly by music critics.

For many years Denis Matsuev has led numerous musical festivals and educational projects which have added to his role as a prominent public figure. Since 2004 he has organized “Stars on Baikal” in Irkutsk, Siberia (in 2009 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Irkutsk), and since 2005 he has been the artistic director of the music festival “Crescendo” (a series of events held in international cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tel Aviv, Kaliningrad, Paris and New York). In 2010 he became the artistic director of Annecy Music Festival in Annecy, France, with the goal to bring together Russian and French music cultures. In 2012 Denis Matsuev became the artistic director of I International “Astana Piano Passion” Festival and Competition as well as the artistic director of International Festival and Competition “Sberbank DEBUT” in Kiev in 2013. In 2016 Denis Matsuev as the artistic director of the Competition and chairman of the Organizing Committee started a new competition for young pianists in Moscow – Grand Piano Competition. Additionally, Mr. Matsuev is the president of the charitable Russian foundation “New Names” that discovers and supports talented children and helps to develop music education in regions of his native Russia. More than 10000 children received monetary grants and/or opportunity to perform at the professional stage.

In 2007, RCA Red Seal released “Unknown Rachmaninoff” featuring Mr. Matsuev. The recording has received strong positive reviews praising his execution and creativity. His Carnegie Hall recital in November 2007 was recorded and released in 2009 as an album entitled “Denis Matsuev – Concert at Carnegie Hall.” The New York Times praised this performance writing “…his poetic instincts held fast in tender moments, with trills as thrillingly precise as one might ever hope to hear.”

Mariinsky Label releases include Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3, Shostakovich Concertos No. 1, No. 2 and Schedrin’s Fifth with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in the famed Mariinsky Concert Hall. Among many awards granted is the Five Star rating of BBC Music Magazine. Norman Lebrecht wrote: “Neither is a virtuoso vehicle and, the composer apart, there is no pianist who has stamped these works decisively as his or her own. Denis Matsuev, a Siberian who made his name in Rachmaninoff is perhaps the first to come close”.

In April 2013 Denis Matsuev presented the record (RCA Red Seal) with S. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of its music director Alan Gilbert.

In September 2013 the label LSO Live released a new disc with Denis Matsuev and LSO under baton of Valery Gergiev performing Symphonia Concertante by K. Szymanowski.

Gramophone has chosen Denis Matsuev’s recording of Tchaikovsky Concerti Nos. 1 & 2 as their recording of the month in April 2014.

“Matsuev’s Tchaikovsky No 1 is thrilling, the work’s drama excitingly to the fore – a new ‘personal benchmark’, says Jeremy Nicholas. That’s for you to decide, of course, but do hear it.” Gramophone (UK)

In 2018 Mariinsky Label released a disc with the record of two legendary piano concertos – Piano concerto #2 by S. Prokofiev and Piano concerto #2 by S. Rachmaninoff, performed by Denis Matsuev and Mariinsky Theatre orchestra under baton of Valery Gergiev.

For many years Denis Matsuev has collaborated with the Sergei Rachmaninov Foundation, established by Alexander Rachmaninov, the grandson of the composer. Mr. Matsuev was chosen by the Foundation to perform and record Rachmaninov’s unknown pieces on the composer’s own piano at the Rachmaninov house “Villa Senar” in Lucerne. Later, he became the artistic director of the Foundation. To the 145th anniversary of S. Rachmaninoff Denis Matsuev prepared the cycle of all Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos and is ready to perform this cycle during his concerts all over the world.

Denis Matsuev is a laureate of prestigious “Shostakovich’s Prize” in Music as well as the State Prize of Russian Federation in Literature and Arts. He also is a “People’s Artist of Russia.” Denis Matsuev was named Honorary Professor of the Moscow State University. He is a member of The Presidential Council for Culture and Arts, Honored Artist of Russia and was the head of The Public Council under The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

In February 2014 Denis Matsuev was awarded the honour of performing at the official Closing Ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic games in Sochi and at the same year UNESCO designated Denis Matsuev as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

In 2016 Denis Matsuev was announced as 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia ambassador.

Denis Matsuev was awarded with State Order of Honour.

And in 2017 he received Government of Russia Prize in the sphere of Culture for his International Music Festival in Irkutsk “Stars on the Baikal”.

As the Ambassador of FIFA World Cup Russia Denis organized the unique concert with participation of Valery Gergiev, Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo and other stars of classical music at the Red Square in Moscow on 13th of June 2018.

This season sees Mr. Matsuev perform with New-York Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Mariinsky orchestra under baton of Maestro Gergiev, Israel Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Christian Thielemann, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under baton of Mariss Jansons, London Symphony and Chicago Symphony orchestras under baton of Gianandrea Noseda, La Scala Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Thomas Sanderling, Vienna Symphony Orchestra with Alain Altinoglu, and the London Philharmonia Orchestra with Yuri Temirkanov, Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Kent Nagano, the Orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo with Neeme Jarvi.

He performs recitals at Carnegie Hall, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Vienna Konzerthaus, Pergola Theatre in Florence, G. Verdi Conservatory in Turin, Tonhalle in Zurich, Tonhalle in Dusseldorf, Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Tivoli in Copenhagen, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Smetana Hall in Prague, Gasteig in Munich, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan and Flagey in Brussels. He also takes part in concerts and tours with Staatskapelle Dresden as this season’s Capel-Virtuos. To celebrate the 145th anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s birth in 2018, Mr. Matsuev performs the composer’s complete piano concerto cycles across the world.

Denis Matsuev participates in international music festivals such as Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Verbier Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Lucerne Festival, Montreux Festival, Stresa Festival and Bucharest Music festival.

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