Alain Lefèvre, (born July 23, 1962) is a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He is one of the Québécois pianists who have sold the greatest number of musical recordings. In 2009, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 2011. Hailed as a "hero" (''Los Angeles Times''), a "smashing" performer (''Washington Post''), "a pianist who breaks the mold" (''International Piano'') and "who stands out from the typical trends and artifices offered on the international scene" (''Classica''), Lefèvre has performed in over forty countries to the most prestigious venues (

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, Théatre des Champs-Élysées, Théatre du Châtelet,

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...

, Herodes Atticus Theatre, Epidaurus Theatre…) and participated to numerous international festivals (Ravinia, Saratoga, Wolf Trap, Athènes, Istanbul, Cervantino…). His performances were many times described as "unequaled" (''Westdeutsche Zeitung'') and "unparalleled" (''Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee''). Saluted for his "phenomenal technique" (''The Spectator''), his « sparkling playing resulting in fascinating interpretations » (''Kölner Stadt Anzeiger''), his "sovereign mastery" (''Hamburger Abendblatt''), Lefèvre has been guest soloist of great orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, the China Philharmonic, the SWR, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Moscow Virtuosi, (…) and has collaborated with renowned conductors such as

James Conlon James Conlon (born March 18, 1950) is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Early ...

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of th ...

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned durin ...

JoAnn Falletta JoAnn Falletta (born February 27, 1954 in Queens, New York) is an American conductor. Biography Falletta was raised in the borough of Queens in an Italian-American household. She was educated at the Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard Sch ...

Claus Peter Flor Claus Peter Flor (born 16 March 1953, Leipzig) is a German conductor. Flor studied violin and clarinet at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau. He continued his music studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and the HMT Felix ...

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and the ...

Jacek Kaspszyk Jacek Kaspszyk (born 10 August 1952) is a Polish music conductor and was the Music and Artistic Director of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra from 2013 until the close of the 2018/2019 season. In 2012, he was awarded the Elgar Medal. In ...

Jacques Lacombe Jacques Lacombe, (born July 14, 1963 in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec) is a Canadian conductor. Lacombe began his musical learning with choral singing. He later trained as an organist, and continued his studies at the Conservatoire de musique du ...

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 20 ...

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (; born Yannick Séguin;David Patrick Stearns, "Nezet-Seguin signs Philadelphia Orchestra contract". ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 19 June 2010. 6 March 1975) is a Canadian ( Québécois) conductor and pianist. He ...

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola He was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula in the same class as Esa-Pek ...

Vladimir Spivakov Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (Russian: Влади́мир Теодо́рович Спивако́в; born 12 September 1944) is a Soviet and Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra. Spiva ...

and

Yu Long Yu Long (; pinyin: Yú Lóng; born July 1, 1964) is a Chinese conductor. He is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic and of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra ...

. Since the beginning of his career, Lefèvre has included, commissioned and battled for the music of our time. Alexander Brott, Walter Boudreau, John Corigliano, François Dompierre, Pierre-Max Dubois, Henri Dutilleux, Alain Payette are but a few of the composers he has added to his core répertoire. Alain Lefèvre has also championed the music of the forgotten genius, composer and pianist

André Mathieu André Mathieu (18 February 1929 – 2 June 1968) was a Canadian pianist and composer. Life Mathieu was born René André Rodolphe Mathieu on 18 February 1929 in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the parish of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur ...

, called the "Canadian Mozart". He was music director, composer, and pianist for the 2010 motion picture ''L'Enfant prodige'', a film based on André Mathieu's life, produced by Denise Robert (Cinémaginaire). His discography covers a vast repertoire, from John Corigliano's Piano Concerto, considered to be the reference version by ''BBC Music Magazine'', to Chopin's ''24 Preludes'', where the critic "celebrates Alain Lefèvre", placing him along with the recordings of the "illustrious" Alicia de Larrocha, Ivan Moravec and Arthur Rubinstein (''Fanfare''). Lefèvre has won numerous prizes, amongst them a JUNO, an Opus, ten ''Felix'' (ADISQ) and the AIB Award (London), for "International personality of the year – Radio", saluting his radio program broadcast on ICI Musique/Radio-Canada. He is Officer to the

, Chevalier of the

, Chevalier of the Pléiade Order and recipient of the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

Discography

*''Corigliano'' Concerto for piano (KOCH International Classics), 1994, KIC-3-7250-2 H1 Alain Lefèvre, Carl St-Clair, Pacific Symphony Orchestra *''Fandango'' Alain Lefèvre (KOCH International Classics), 1996, KIC-CD-7389 Rameau, Scarlatti, Soler (piano) *''Ballades'' Alain Lefèvre (KOCH International Classics), 1996, KIC-3-7411-2 Brahms, Chopin (piano) *''Le Secret'' Alain Lefèvre, Gino Quilico (KOCH International Classics), 1997, KIC-CD-7412 Duparc, Fauré, Hahn, Payette (baryton, piano) *''Confidences Poétiques'' Alain Lefèvre (KOCH International Classics), 1998, KIC-3-7434-2H1 Alain Payette *''Cadenza'' Alain Lefèvre (CBC Records), 1999, MVCD 1129 Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Schubert (piano) *''Lylatov'' Alain Lefèvre (Audiogram), 1999, ADCD 10131 Champagne, Ginastera, Lefèvre, Mathieu, Rodgers & Hart, Sancan, Satie (piano) *''Carnet de notes'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), (Audiogram), original works by Alain Lefèvre, 2002, ADCD 10156 *''Mozart'' Concerto for piano, No. 23, k. 488, 1999, Réédition, 2002, CBC Records SMCD 5220 Alain Lefèvre, Jean-François Rivest, Orchestre Symphonique de Laval *''Rachmaninov & Moussorgsky'' Alain Lefèvre (Analekta), 2001, FL 2 3122 Moments musicaux, Tableaux d'une Exposition (piano) *''Liszt : Transcriptions oeuvres de Bach et Wagner'' Alain Lefèvre, (Analekta), 2002, FL 2 3179 *''Concertos: Gershwin, Addinsell, Mathieu'' Alain Lefèvre, Yoav Talmi, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, (Analekta), 2003, AN 2 9814 *''Hommage à Mathieu'' André Mathieu (composer), Alain Lefèvre, (Analekta), 2005, AN 2 9275 *''Fidèles Insomnies – Blissfully Sleepless'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), original works by Alain Lefèvre, 2006, AN 2 9276 *''Rhapsodies : Mathieu, Rachmaninov, Gershwin'' Alain Lefèvre, Matthias Bamert, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, (Analekta), 2006, AN 2 9277 *''Selected Works: Mathieu, Liszt, Moussorgski, Rachmaninov, Addinsell, Boudreau'' Alain Lefèvre, (Analekta), 2007, AN 2 928 *''Montreal Variations – Montreal Jazz Club Session 3'' Alain Lefèvre (and others), (Analekta), 2007, AN 2 8833 *''Effusions'' Alain Lefèvre piano, Diane Dufresne voice (Disques Présence), 2007, PRESCD – 7116 *''Schubert, Rachmaninov, Dreï Klavierstück, Nine Études-Tableaux'' Alain Lefèvre (Analekta), 2008, AN 2 9279 *''Concerto No. 4, Mathieu'' Alain Lefèvre, George Hanson, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, (Analekta), 2008, AN 2 9281 *''Franck, Lekeu – Sonatas / Mathieu – Ballade Fantaisie'' Alain Lefèvre piano, David Lefèvre violin, (Analekta), 2009, AN 2 9282 *''Concertino & Concertos – Mathieu, Shostakovich, Mendelssohn'' Alain Lefèvre, David Lefèvre (violin), Paul Archibald (trumpeter), London Mozart Players (Analekta), 2009, AN 2 9283 *''Jardin d'Images'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), original works by (Analekta), 2009, AN 2 9279 *''L'Enfant prodige – The Child Prodigy'' André Mathieu (composer), Alain Lefèvre (piano) (Analekta), 2010, AN 2 9284-5 *''Mon Coffret Radio-Canada – Boxset of 4 CD'' New release of Fandango, Ballades, Confidences Poétiques, Cadenza (1996-1999) Alain Lefèvre (piano), (Radio-Canada) 2010, SRCCD4 -2366 *''Chausson – Concert'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), David Lefèvre (violin), Quatuor Alcan (Analekta), 2011, AN 29286 *''Petit Noël (Christmas songs)'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), Quatuor Philippe Dunnigan (Analekta), 2011, AN 29289 *''François Dompierre, 24 Preludes'' Alain Lefèvre, (piano) (Analekta), 2012, AN 2 9292- 3 *''Rachmaninov & Scriabine'' Alain Lefèvre, Kent Nagano, Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Analekta), 2012, AN 2 9288 *''Chopin, 24 Preludes'' Alain Lefèvre, (piano) (Analekta), 2014, AN 2 9287 *''Rive Gauche'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), original works (Analekta), Release date 17 March 2015 *''Rachmaninov & Haydn & Ravel'' Alain Lefèvre, (piano) (Analekta), 2015, AN 2 9296 *''Sas Agapo'' Alain Lefèvre (piano), original works (Analekta), Release date, October 2016, AN 2 9297

References

External links

Official website
*
Alain Lefèvre biography on audiogram.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre, Alain 1962 births Living people People from Poitiers Officers of the Order of Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian classical pianists Male classical pianists Musicians from Quebec CBC Radio hosts Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment winners Canadian male pianists 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century Canadian male musicians