Bernard d'Ascoli (born 18 November 1958) is a French pianist. Born in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, France, and blind since the age of 3, d'Ascoli began learning piano and organ at the age of eleven, using scores written in

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille disp ...

. In 1974 he was the youngest French Baccalaureat graduate of the year and four years later at the age of nineteen, he won the First Prize in the Barcelona International Piano Competition. In 1980 he received honorable mention at the

X International Chopin Piano Competition The X International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, X Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 1 to 20 October 1980 in Warsaw. Đặng Thái Sơn, who in the final played with an orchestra for the first time in hi ...

. After winning prizes in

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Leipzig and Warsaw, d'Ascoli came to major public attention in 1981 when, following his Third Prize in the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess ...

, he made his London debut in recital and with orchestra and made his first recording of the Liszt sonata and other works for EMI. He made his first appearance with a major American orchestra in 1992, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He went on to perform in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

( Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican),

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(

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

( Musikverein),

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, and the Sydney Opera House. He has performed with most British orchestras, including the main London ones, as well as with many major overseas ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Montreal Symphony,

Boston Symphony The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

, and

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the '' Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and ...

. The conductors he has appeared with include Svetlanov, Sanderling, Berglund, Plasson, Casadesus, Guschlbauer, Litton, Menuhin, Pritchard, Llewellyn, Herbig, Leppard, Fischer, Järvi, Parrot and Andrew Davis. He has taken part in international festivals such as the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

, Sintra, Oviedo, Besançon or La Roque d'Anthéron. In 2000 he was a special guest of the Sydney Olympic festivities, appearing at the Opera House both as recitalist and soloist with the

Sydney Symphony The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and fir ...

. He is founder and artistic director o
PIANO CANTABILE
an organisation based in Provence which is dedicated to the coaching and professional support of highly talented young pianists. D'Ascoli has recorded albums of Chopin and Schumann for Nimbus and has made regular recordings as well as live broadcasts for the BBC. He features prominently on
Schumann CD
issued by

Linn Records Linn Records is a Glasgow-based record label which specialises in classical music, jazz and Scottish music. It is part of Linn Products. History While Linn engineers were testing their flagship product, the Sondek LP12 turntable, they became fr ...

of the Quintet and other works, where he is joined by the Schidlof Quartet. His special affinity with Chopin's music led him to undertake the complete recording of the
Scherzi, Impromptus
an

for the Athene-Minerva label. This double album was selected as "Editor's Choice" in '' Gramophone'' magazine.

References

External links

*Bernard d'Ascoli official web-site
Bernard-dascoli.com

Debretts.com
*Bernard d'Ascoli in concert on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascoli, Bernard d 1958 births Living people 21st-century French male classical pianists French blind people People from Aubagne Prize-winners of the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition