François Weigel (born 1964,

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, West Germany) is a French pianist, conductor and composer.

Biography

Weigel began piano studies at age four. At age 12, he played organ and conducted a choir which performed his own works. In 1979, he entered the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music ( is a music college in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music. History The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 Ger ...

, where his teachers included Günther Ludwig, and studied composition there. He subsequently studied piano, harmony, counterpoint, analysis, and chamber music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where his teachers included

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

(piano), Jean-Sébastien Béreau (orchestra conducting),

Bruno Pasquier Bruno Pasquier (born 10 December 1943 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), is a French violist, the son of Pierre Pasquier, also a violist. Biography After a First Prize at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1961, Pasquier won the ARD International Music Comp ...

, Jean-Claude Bernède, Alain Bernaud,

Roger Boutry Roger Jean Boutry (27 February 1932 – 7 September 2019) was a French composer and conductor. Biography Born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, he resided in Paris. A virtuoso pianist, renowned and internationally recognized conductor, in ...

(harmony), Alain Weber (composition). He had afterwards advanced studies in conducting at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, and at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Eng ...

. He has also studied with Alexis Weissenberg. Weigel has had long-standing artistic collaborations with the ''Flâneries musicales de Reims'', and with the Paris Bastille Opera as chorus master. He performed with

Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi (born 3 October 1941) is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures. Life and career Early training and career Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II. His voice mat ...

for the program ''Le Grand Tour'', which led to a series of recitals with Raimondi. In other media, Weigel began a collaboration in 2010 with the journalist and writer Alain Duault for concerts in the French operas presenting the movies ''On the steps of the great composers'', and ''Musical Promenades in European Music Cities''. He appears regularly on radio and television programmes across Europe, such as ''Le Fou du roi'' with Stéphane Bern, ''Carrefour de Lodéon'' with

Frédéric Lodéon Frédéric Lodéon (born 26 January 1952 in the 14th arrondissement of Paris) is a contemporary French cellist, conductor and radio personality. Biography In 1960, his father, André Lodéon, was appointed director of the School of Music of Sa ...

France Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...

, ''Fauteuils d'Orchestre'' with

Anne Sinclair Anne Sinclair (, born Anne-Élise Schwartz; 15 July 1948) is a New-York-born French television and radio interviewer. She hosted one of the most popular political shows for more than thirteen years on TF1, the largest European private TV channel ...

, ''Le Grand Tour'' with Patrick de Carolis on

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

, and ''Le monde est à vous'' with Jacques Martin on Antenne 2.

Awards

* 1984: First Prize of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSM) in chamber music * 1985: First Prize of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSM) in piano * 1992:

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

Foundation Prize Winner * 2002: Midem Classical Music Award * 2006: French

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

Recordings

*''

Turangalîla-Symphonie The ''Turangalîla-Symphonie'' is the only symphony by Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992). It was written for an orchestra of large forces from 1946 to 1948 on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky in his wife's memory for the Boston Symphony Orchestr ...

'' by Olivier Messiaen (8.554478-79) *''Classical Heat'' (8.520102)https://naxosdirect.co.uk/items/classical-heat-153558 * '' Swann in Love'', 1984 film by

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s ...

References

External links

*
Biography on AllMusic website

L'Association des Anciens Elèves et Elèves des CNSMD, French-language page on François Weigel

Naxos Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Francois Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni 21st-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French male classical pianists French classical composers French male classical composers French male conductors (music) 1964 births Living people People from Trier 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French conductors (music) 21st-century classical composers 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French composers 20th-century French composers