ARTIST PROFILE
Hélène Grimaud
SAINT PAUL SUNDAY APPEARANCES
LINKS AND RESOURCES
BIOGRAPHY
Hélène Grimaud studied music in her native town of Aix en Provence, in Marseille with Pierre Barbizet and from the age of 12 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris under Jacques Rouvier, Gyorgy Sandor and Leon Fleischer.
1987 marked a decisive turning point in her career with performances at MIDEM in Cannes and La Roque d'Anthéron Piano Festival, her first recital in Tokyo and a concert with the Orchestre de Paris and Daniel Barenboim.
Hélène Grimaud performs regularly in the leading music centres and with major orchestras worldwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Tonhalle Zürich and St Petersburg Philharmonic orchestras. She continues to appear with conductors of the highest calibre such as Boulez, Ashkenazy, Eschenbach, and Neeme Järvi.
Recent engagements have included performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi and Hugh Wolf, with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Sir Colin Davis. In the autumn of 2004 she undertook major tours of Europe with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi, and with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Lawrence Foster.
In 2002 Hélène Grimaud signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has recently released a highly successful solo recording featuring the music of Chopin and Rachmaninov. Her first release on the label, entitled Credo, features works by Beethoven and Pärt with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. A recording artist since the age of 15, her catalogue includes works by Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Strauss and Gershwin. Her recording of Brahms Concerto No 1 with Berlin Staatskapelle Orchester and Kurt Sanderling received the 1999 Classical Award.
Hélène Grimaud received the 'Victoire d'honneur' at the French 'Victoires de la Musique' in 2004, and in January 2002 she was appointed an Officier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministère de la Culture.
Helene Grimaud's first book, Variations Sauvages, was published recently by Editions Robert Laffont and is being translated into several languages.
