Jean Rondeau
Harpsichordist Jean Rondeau is a global ambassador for his instrument. Combining a profound respect for the past with boundary-pushing programming, Rondeau is at the forefront of the movement to bring the harpsichord into the 21st century: as remarked by Gramophone magazine (2023), Rondeau teaches us “what a flexible and expressive medium the harpsichord can be—perhaps more than any of us had realized before.”
During the 2026 –20 27 season, Rondeau is Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, where he will perform projects ranging from early to contemporary music, including two of his more daring programs: Sisyphus, an improvised solo harpsichord recital and UNDR, a piano and drums format co-created with drummer Tancrède D. Kummer. The two projects are also featured at the Interfinity festival in Basel, and he returns to the Philharmonie de Paris and Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical in Madrid with the Sisyphus project.
Other highlights of the season include his current North American recital tour of 17th-century French repertoire, with performances at Carnegie Hall, Vancouver Recital Society, Salle Bourgie Montreal, and Club Musical de Québec, among others. Rondeau will also appear as soloist in Poulenc’s Concerto champêtre alongside the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Bruckner Orchester Linz. Other key collaborators include the Ricercar Ensemble, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, lutenist Thomas Dunford and the Baroque quartet NEVERMIND, which he co-founded.
Signed to the Warner Classics/Erato label, Rondeau has recorded a number of critically acclaimed albums. November 2025 brought the release of Louis Couperin: The Complete Works: described as a “life-enhancing release” by The Arts Desk, Rondeau’s CD and DVD release earned him an Opus Klassik Award and was just named Gramophone‘s Recording of the Year for 2026. Previous albums include Gradus Ad Parnassum (2023), hailed “a triumph” by Gramophone and described as “quietly audacious” by the New York Times, and his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2022), which was described by Gramophone as “mesmerizing” and earned a 5-star review from BBC Music Magazine. Further releases include Imagine (2015), Vertigo (2016), Dynastie: Bach Concertos (2017), Scarlatti Sonatas (2018), Barricades (2020, recorded with Thomas Dunford), and Melancholy Grace (2021).
Rondeau studied harpsichord with Blandine Verlet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, followed by training in continuo, organ, piano, jazz, improvisation, and conducting. He completed his musical education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2012, Rondeau became one of the youngest performers ever to take First Prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (MAfestival 2012), aged 21.