Jean-Yves Thibaudet:

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet continues to bring joy to audiences around the globe with his elegant style, depth of color, and brilliant technique. His interpretations combine a masterful virtuosity with lyric and poetic expressiveness, with which he makes each composer’s work his own.  Sought after by orchestras, conductors, festivals and fellow musicians alike for his versatility and artistic sensitivity, and equally prolific in the performance and recording arenas, he continues to be hailed by the press as “one of the best pianists in the world.”

Highlights of Mr. Thibaudet’s 2007-08 season in the US include three performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (October 8), National Symphony Orchestra (February 7), and the Takács Quartet (April 26). 

Additional orchestral appearances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  Internationally, the season takes Thibaudet to sixteen countries spanning five continents, with appearances including tours with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, as well as concerts with such world-renowned ensembles as London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, the NHK and Singapore Symphony Orchestras, the Oslo Philharmonic, Radio Philharmonic Holland, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra and the Valencia Orchestra. 

A vivid recitalist, in 2007-08 Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in New York and Chicago’s Symphony Hall.  Additional recitals take him to Japan, Germany, Spain, and several US cities.  Mr. Thibaudet’s season is rounded out by performances at some of the world’s most renowned festivals, which include the Tuscan Sun, Ravinia and Saratoga Festivals in summer 2007, the historic December Nights of Sviatoslav Richter Festival in Moscow, followed by January performances at the Cartagena Festival in Colombia and the New Zealand Festival in March. An active chamber musician, Jean-Yves Thibaudet collaborates regularly with other notable artists, and tours with Takács Quartet in April 2008.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is an exclusive recording artist for Decca, which has released over 30 of his albums, earning the Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or, Choc de la Musique, a Gramophone Award, two Echo awards, and the Edison Prize. His latest recording, Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerti Nos. 2&5, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, released in early fall 2007, follows the album, Aria—Opera Without Words, which was released in February 2007, inspired by the artist’s love and admiration for the human voice as “the best vehicle for expression in music.” The disc features transcriptions of opera arias by Saint-Saëns, R. Strauss, Gluck, Korngold, Bellini, J. Strauss II and Puccini; some of the transcriptions are by Mikhashoff, Sgambati and Brassin, others—Thibaudet’s own.  Thibaudet was the soloist on the 2005 Oscar-nominated soundtrack of Universal Pictures’ Pride and Prejudice, and in 2005 released his recording of Strauss’s Burleske with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Among other recordings are Satie: The Complete Solo Piano Music, and the jazz albums Reflections on Duke: Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays the music of Duke Ellington and Conversations with Bill Evans, his tribute to two of jazz history’s greats.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. At twelve, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel. At age fifteen, he won the Premier Prix de Conservatoire and three years later, won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City. In 2001, the Republic of France awarded Thibaudet the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2002, he was awarded the Premio Pegasus from the Spoleto Festival in Italy, for his artistic achievements and his longstanding involvement with the festival. His most recent accolade is the 2007 Victoire d’Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honor given by France’s Victoire de la Musique.