Bertrand Chamayou

Born in Toulouse, Bertrand Chamayou’s (piano) musical talent was noticed by pianist Jean-François Heisser, who later became his professor at the Paris Conservatory. He completed his training with Maria Curcio in London.

Chamayou has appeared with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony. This week’s performances mark his San Francisco Symphony debut. His other engagements include the Mostly Mozart Festival, Lucerne Festival, Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, and Beethovenfest Bonn, and he is a regular performer at Lincoln Center, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Herkulessaal Munich, and London’s Wigmore Hall. As a chamber musician, his frequent collaborators include Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Quatuor Ébène, Antoine Tamestit, and Sol Gabetta.

Chamayou’s recording of Saint-Saëns’ piano concertos won the Gramophone Recording of the Year Award in 2019 and he has been awarded France’s Victoires de la Musique on four occasions. He has an exclusive recording contract with Warner/Erato and was awarded the 2016 Echo Klassik for his recording of Ravel’s complete works for solo piano. Last June, he released a new recording of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus and performed it at Festival Ravel, a new series situated in France’s Basque country of which Chamayou is co-artistic director.