THIBAUDET/ BATIASHVILI/ CAPUÇON TRIO

A powerhouse trio of acclaimed classical music performers! Piano superstar Jean-Yves Thibaudet, recognized as one of today’s finest pianists, has performed worldwide and recorded more than 50 albums. He is joined by Georgian-born German violin sensation Lisa Batiashvili and French cello phenom and multiple award winner Gautier Capuçon.

For more than three decades, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed worldwide, recorded more than 50 albums, and built a reputation as one of today’s finest pianists. He plays a range of solo, chamber, and orchestral repertoire—from Beethoven through Liszt, Grieg, and Saint-Saëns to Khachaturian and Gershwin, and to Olivier Messiaen, Qigang Chen, James MacMillan, Richard Dubugnon, and Aaron Zigman.

From the very start of his career, he has delighted in music beyond the standard repertoire, from jazz to opera, including works which he has transcribed himself for the piano. His profound professional friendships crisscross the globe and have led to spontaneous and fruitful collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art.

This season, Thibaudet continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes, playing the complete Préludes in solo recitals in Seattle, at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, in Bilbao, Luxembourg, Metz, San Francisco, and Chapel Hill, at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and in Kansas City, MO, Orange County, CA, Zurich, and Leipzig.

Thibaudet will also perform several recitals and small-ensemble concerts with close friends and new collaborators this season. After a recital with Renée Fleming at Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the Colburn Celebrity Series, Thibaudet will join violinist Midori for a tour of Beethoven’s complete Violin Sonatas, with dates at Dartmouth College, in Chicago and at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall; the duo will release a recording of the sonatas on Warner Classics later this season.

In December, Thibaudet appears with the all-star Itzhak Perlman and Friends program at the University of Michigan, in Toronto, and at Carnegie Hall. Beginning in the spring, Thibaudet will join pianist, singer, and music historian Michael Feinstein in “Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More?”, a bespoke evening-length program featuring the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and more, specially arranged for the occasion for piano duos, solos, vocals, and orchestra.

Thibaudet has a lifelong passion for education and fostering young musical talent. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he makes his home. In 2017, the school announced the Jean-Yves Thibaudet Scholarships, funded by members of Colburn’s donor community, to provide aid for Music Academy students, whom Thibaudet will select for the merit-based awards, regardless of their instrument choice.

Thibaudet records exclusively for Decca; his extensive catalogue has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. His most recent album, 2021’s Carte Blanche, features a collection of deeply personal solo piano pieces never before recorded by the pianist. Other highlights from Thibaudet’s catalog include a 2017 recording of Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety” with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, with whom he previously recorded Gershwin, featuring big band jazz orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, the Concerto in F, and the original version of Variations on “I Got Rhythm.” In 2016, on the 150th anniversary of Erik Satie’s birth, Decca released a box set of Satie’s complete solo piano music performed by Thibaudet – one of the foremost champions of the composer’s works. On his Grammy-nominated recording Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerti Nos. 2&5, released in 2007, he is joined by Charles Dutoit and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Thibaudet’s Aria–Opera Without Words, which was released the same year, features aria transcriptions, some of which are Thibaudet’s own. His other recordings include the jazz albums Reflections on Duke: Jean-Yves Thibaudet Plays the Music of Duke Ellington and Conversations With Bill Evans.

Thibaudet has also had an impact on the worlds of fashion, film, and philanthropy. He was soloist on Aaron Zigman’s score for Robin Swicord’s Wakefield; this was the first time that the composer had allowed a pianist other than himself to perform his film work. He was also soloist in Dario Marianelli’s award-winning scores for the films Atonement (which won an Oscar for Best Original Score) and Pride and Prejudice, as well as Alexandre Desplat’s soundtracks for the 2012 film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Wes Anderson’s 2021 film The French Dispatch. He had a cameo in Bruce Beresford’s film on Alma Mahler, Bride of the Wind, and his playing is showcased throughout. In 2004 he served as president of the prestigious charity auction at the Hospices de Beaune. His concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Among his numerous commendations is the Victoire d’Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honor given by France’s Victoires de la Musique. In 2010 the Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Previously a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was awarded the title Officier by the French Ministry of Culture in 2012. In 2020, he was named Special Representative for the promotion of French Creative and Cultural Industries in Romania. He is co-artistic advisor, with Gautier Capuçon, of the Festival Musique & Vin au Clos Vougeot.