Bertrand Chamayou

Biography

Bertrand Chamayou is one of today’s most strikingly brilliant pianists, recognised for his revelatory performances at once powerfully virtuosic, imaginative and breathtakingly beautiful. A leading interpreter of French music, his vast repertoire includes major bodies of work such as the complete piano works of Ravel, Liszt’s Etudes and Années de pèlerinage, and Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus. At the same time, the French pianist possesses a deep passion for new music, having worked with composers including Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtág, Thomas Adès, Bryce Dessner and Michael Jarrell.

This past season saw him appear with the London Symphony Orchestra in Gstaad and La-Côte-Saint-André, playing a chamber music evening at Wigmore Hall, performing with Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Les Siècles Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Belgian National Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. A tour with Barbara Hannigan took the two musicians to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, La Jolla, Rochester, Philadelphia, New York, Ottawa, Washington and Paris with duo recitals. Duo recitals with Sol Gabetta took place at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Gewandhaus Leipzig, De Doelen Rotterdam, Trieste and Bologna. This season, Bertrand Chamayou gives solo recitals in Clermont-Ferrand, Metz, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Perth, Paris, Dijon, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, Lille and Oeiras.

Bertrand Chamayou performs with the most prestigious orchestras: the Wiener Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, the orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Atlanta, Montreal, Vienna and London, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and the radio orchestras in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Copenhagen, as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has had the privilege of playing under the baton of Pierre Boulez and Sir Neville Marriner and works with conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Charles Dutoit, Mikko Franck, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Krzysztof Urbanski, Philippe Herreweghe and Gianandrea Noseda, Philippe Jordan, Andris Nelsons, François-Xavier Roth, Tugan Sokhiev, Sir Antonio Pappano and Elim Chan.

A highly regarded chamber musician, his partners include renowned artists such as Sol Gabetta, Barbara Hannigan, Vilde Frang, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Leif Ove Andsnes, the Quatuor Ebène and Antoine Tamestit. He is very committed to new repertoire and has also worked with Henri Dutilleux and György Kurtág and, more recently, with Thomas Adès, Bryce Dessner and Michaël Jarrell, who dedicated his last piano concerto to him.

Bertrand Chamayou published a large number of highly successful recordings, including a Naïve CD of music by César Franck, which was awarded several accolades. For his recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concertos Nos.2 and 5, he was awarded the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award 2019. The only artist to win France's prestigious Victoires de la Musique on five occasions, he has an exclusive recording contract with Warner/Erato and was awarded the 2016 ECHO Klassik for his recording of Ravel’s complete works for solo piano.

Bertrand Chamayou was born in Toulouse; his musical talent was quickly noted by pianist Jean-François Heisser, who later became his professor at the Paris Conservatoire. He completed his training with Maria Curcio in London. Since 2021, Chamayou has been Co-Artistic Director of Festival Ravel, the major new international festival celebrating Maurice Ravel, situated in France’s Basque country.


Photo Credit: Audoin Desforges