Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Born: 07 September 1961

Age:

Years Active: 1979–Present

Genre/s: Classical

Label/s: Decca Classics

Jean-Yves Thibaudet (born 7 September 1961) is a French pianist.

Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin, and his mother, of German origin and a somewhat accomplished pianist herself, introduced the instrument to him.

Thibaudet entered the Conservatoire de Lyon at the age of five and began studying the piano. He made his first public appearance at the age of seven. He won a gold medal at the Conservatoire when he was twelve and subsequently entered the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves. Three years later, he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire and at the age of eighteen, won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York.

Thibaudet has performed with most of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has also appeared in the major concert halls of Europe, North America and Asia. In 2010, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.

Thibaudet also holds the honor of being the first ever Artist-in-Residence at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Among Thibaudet’s collaborators in performances and recordings are soprano Renée Fleming; mezzo-sopranos Cecilia Bartoli and Angelika Kirchschlager; violist Yuri Bashmet; violinists Joshua Bell, Midori, Lisa Batiashvili, Janine Jansen and Julia Fischer; cellists Truls Mørk, Daniel Müller-Schott, and Gautier Capuçon; and the Rossetti String Quartet. He also commissioned a piano concerto from James MacMillan, which he premiered with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2011.

Notably, Thibaudet's recording of Liszt drew rare praise from the great Vladimir Horowitz, who remarked, “It was amazing, such dexterity, such technique, such articulation, such command.”