Bertrand Chamayou is 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 and Michael Jarrell. He is a regular performer in venues such as the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Lincoln Center, the Herkulessaal Munich and London’s Wigmore Hall. He has appeared at major festivals including New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Lucerne Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Edinburgh International Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and Beethovenfest in Bonn.
Bertrand Chamayou performs with the most prestigious orchestras, including Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the radio orchestras in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Copenhagen as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
This season sees him appear the London Symphony Orchestra in Gstaad and La-Côte-Saint-André, play a chamber music evening at Wigmore Hall, perform with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Les Siècles Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
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.
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 NO2 and 5 he was awarded the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award 2019.
