Helene Grimaud

1978 Begins playing the piano; studies with Jacqueline Courtin at the conservatory in her hometown of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. 1982 Pierre Barbizet at the conservatory in Marseille offers to prepare her for the entrance exams of the Paris Conservatoire. Still only twelve years old, she is accepted as a student there. Begins studies two days a week with Jacques Rouvier. For the rest of each week she continues her studies with Barbizet in Marseille. Her other teachers in Paris include Geneviève Joy for chamber music and Christian Ivaldi for sight-reading. 1985 Premier prix in piano at the Conservatoire. In July, immediately after graduating, records Rachmaninov's Sonata No. 2 and the complete Etudes-Tableaux op. 33 (Grand Prix du disque 1986). In the autumn, pursues post-graduate studies with Rouvier at the Conservatoire (troisième cycle, which is open only to select former winners of the premier prix). 1986 Goes to Moscow for three weeks as a contestant in the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition; on her return that summer plays at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. 1987 Lessons with Leon Fleisher in Paris. Makes Paris début recital; a week later per-forms Liszt's E flat major Concerto with the Orchestre de Paris at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim. Appears at MIDEM in Cannes and at the piano festival of La Roque d'Anthéron. 1988 First performs for the pianist Dmitri Bashkirov, who becomes an important influence on her playing. 1988/89 Appearance at the Lockenhaus Festival at the invitation of Gidon Kremer, with whom she performs - Kremer and Martha Argerich become further important influences in her career. 1990 Début with the Cleveland Orchestra, followed by appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore, and Seattle Symphony Orchestras, and soon with other leading orchestras in North America and Europe. Settles in the USA; makes her New York recital début at the Metropolitan Museum. In Europe she makes her début with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Temirkanov performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. 1993 Tours Germany with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. 1994 Tours Germany with Semyon Bychkov and the Orchestre de Paris performing the Ravel Concerto in G major. 1995 Makes her début with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado performing Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2. 1996 Highly successful tour of Spain with Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra. She performs with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra led by Claudio Abbado at the Lucerne and Pesaro Festivals. 1997 Performs and records Brahms's Concerto No. 1 with Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Staatskapelle (Cannes Classical Recording of the Year 1999). 1999 New York Philharmonic début with Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 under Kurt Masur. Pursuing her other deep commitment beside music, Grimaud and the photographer J. Henry Fair establish the Wolf Conservation Center, a private, non-profit-making educational facility in South Salem (Westchester County, NY), to promote conservation of this threatened species through education, providing a natural-habitat sanctuary for captive wolves and supporting the reintroduction of wolves in suitable, federally designated areas. 2000 Débuts with the Boston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Tour of the Czech Republic; in autumn she is the soloist (along with Martha Argerich) in a European festival tour made by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Performs Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and David Zinman and gives a solo recital in the Berlin Philharmonie which is filmed for TV broadcast. 2001/02 Makes her début in Amsterdam with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly playing Ravel's Concerto in G major. Performs Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 in Paris and at the London Proms with the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach (the latter concert is filmed and broadcast internationally). 2002/03 Hélène Grimaud signs an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Performs Brahms's Concerto No. 1 with Riccardo Chailly and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Tours with the Czech Philharmonic and Ashkenazy, giving concerts in Europe and Japan. Performs world première of new work by Arvo Pärt at London's Tate Modern and joins Christoph von Dohnányi and the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall in London for "a fiery yet poetic account of Schumann's Piano Concerto" (The Times). Festival appearances at the London Proms and Edinburgh. 2003/04 Hélène Grimaud records Arvo Pärt’s Credo in the composer’s presence for Deutsche Grammophon; the recording also features Corigliano’s Fantasia on an ostinato and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Tempest Sonata (international release: January 2004). Highlights of the season include a tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, including concerts in Frankfurt, Cologne, and London perform­ing Bartók’s Concerto no. 3. Recitals in Brussels, Lucerne, and Lisbon. In November 2003 in Paris her book Variations sauvages is published, in which Hélène Grimaud talks about her life as a musician and her environmental work with wolves. 2004 Commences with performances of Beethoven’s Concerto no. 4 in San Francisco, with Ashkenazy conducting, and a US tour with the Russian National Orchestra, playing Bartók’s Concerto no. 3. Grimaud performs Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto for the first time in concert in a Euro­pean tour with Michael Gielen and the SWR Sinfonieorchester. Other concert engagements this year include the Brahms D minor Concerto in Stockholm with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck, the Ravel G major Concerto in Japan with Chung and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as appearances with the Finnish Radio, NHK and London Symphony orchestras, and the St. Petersburg Philhar­monic (at Carnegie Hall). Recitals in Vienna, Ludwigsburg, Amsterdam, and in duo with Truls Mørk in Paris. Records two albums for Deutsche Grammophon this year: the Second Sonatas of Chopin and Rachmaninov, plus Chopin’s Barcarolle and Berceuse, as well as Bartók’s Concerto no. 3 with Boulez and the LSO (both released in 2005). 2005 Orchestral engagements in the USA and Europe, including the London “Proms” and an extensive European tour with the SWR Sinfonieorchester and Sir Roger Norrington. Recitals in Atlanta, London (Festival Hall), Paris, Berlin (Philharmonie), Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Madrid and a tour of Japan. This year she records Reflection: music inspired by Clara Schumann, including her husband Robert’s Piano Concerto, songs by Clara herself, and solo and chamber music by Brahms. (International release: January 2006) 2006 Plans include concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, SWR Sinfonie-orchester and Wiener Symphoniker as well as recitals with the LSO Chamber Ensemble (Barbican) and with flautist Emmanuel Pahud.