Alexandre Kantorow

At twenty-two Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to take the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the jury added the Grand Prix. Born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1997, he began piano at five at the Cergy-Pontoise conservatory and studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat from eleven. His subsequent teachers included Igor Lazko at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, Frank Braley at the Paris conservatory and Rena Shereshevskaya. Jean-Philippe Collard, Jacques Rouvier and Christian Ivaldi also advised him. He appeared with the Bordeaux Chamber Orchestra, and his recorded repertoire includes Liszt, Brahms, Saint-Saëns and transcriptions. His discs for BIS include several made with his father, the violinist and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow. He received the 2024 Gilmore Artist Award, announced in September 2023. In 2024 he also played Ravel at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. His album of French sonatas with his father appeared in January 2014. In 2022 he became co-artistic director of Les Rencontres Musicales de Nîmes with Liya Petrova and Aurélien Pascal.