Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
Widely acclaimed as a key figure in the music of our time and a leading interpreter of the standard piano repertoire, Pierre-Laurent Aimard enjoys an internationally celebrated career that transcends traditional boundaries. In recent seasons he has been invited by Carnegie Hall, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Berlin's Philharmonie, the Palais Garnier/Opéra de Paris, Lucerne Festival, Mozarteum Salzburg, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Cité de la Musique, Paris, for "Carte Blanche" and residency projects, performing chamber music, lieder, solo piano, and orchestral programs. He curated the Southbank Centre's Messiaen centenary festival in 2008, marked his first year as artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2009, and was awarded Germany's Schallplattenkritik Honorary Prize in December 2009. Highlights of his 2009–2010 season include an "Auftakt" residency at the Alte Oper Frankfurt (a joint piano recital with Tamara Stefanovich, lieder with Christine Schäfer, and chamber music with instrumentalists from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe) and solo recitals in Paris, New York, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, and Berlin. He returns to the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, joins the Britten Sinfonia as soloist and director, and appears as soloist on consecutive nights at Carnegie Hall with the Chicago Symphony and Boston Symphony. Mr. Aimard holds professorships in Cologne and Paris, gives concert/lectures and workshops worldwide, and recently led classes and seminars at the College de France, Paris. The recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society's Instrumentalist Award in spring 2005, he was Musical America's 2007 Instrumentalist of the Year.
Born in Lyon, France, in 1957, Pierre-Laurent Aimard studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Yvonne Loriod and in London with Maria Curçio. Early career landmarks included first prize in the 1973 Messiaen Competition, and his appointment at age 19, by Pierre Boulez, as the Ensemble InterContemporain's first solo pianist. For more than 15 years he collaborated closely with György Ligeti, recording his complete works. Mr. Aimard now records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon. His most recent releases include recital discs of Ravel, Carter, and Schumann; Mozart piano concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, directed by him from the keyboard; and Hommage à Messiaen, a disc of solo piano works.
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