Simon Ghraichy (born in 1985) is a French

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 ...

of Lebanese and Mexican heritage, living in

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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Early life and education

After a cosmopolitan childhood and teenage life (Lebanon, Mexico, Canada), Ghraichy landed in Paris and entered the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt at age 16. He was admitted to the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

in 2004 then to the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

in 2008. He studied with

Michel Beroff Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

, Daria Hovora and Tuija Hakkila. He also participated in masterclasses with famous pianists such as

Cyprien Katsaris Cyprien Katsaris ( el, Κυπριανός Κατσαρής; born 5 May 1951) is a French- Cypriot virtuoso pianist, teacher and composer. Amongst his teachers were Monique de la Bruchollerie, a student of Emil von Sauer, who had been a pupil o ...

, Jean-Philippe Collard, Gergely Bogányi and

Jerome Lowenthal Jerome Lowenthal (born February 11, 1932) is an American classical pianist. He has served as chair of the piano department at the Juilliard School in New York. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbar ...

. During his musical studies, he received many international prizes, especially from the BNDES (Banco do Brasil) International Piano competition in Rio de Janeiro, the

Manuel Ponce Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar (8 December 1882 – 24 April 1948) was a Mexican composer active in the 20th century. His work as a composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music connected the concert scene with a mostly forgotten traditi ...

Competition in Mexico and the

Georges Cziffra Georges may refer to: Places * Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

Foundation's prize in France.

Career

In 2010 critic Robert Hughes at the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

positively reviewed Ghraichy's interpretation of

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

’s Reminiscences de Don Juan. He has since been invited to many festivals, such as the UniSA international festival in South Africa, EXIT Festival in Serbia and Isang Yun Festival in South Korea, and venues such as Salle Cortot and Musée d’Orsay in

, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven and Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Sala Elisa Carillo – Centro Cultural Mexiquense Bicentenario in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras, including State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB), Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Almaty Symphony Orchestra and Guadalajara Juvenile Symphony Orchestra. In June 2014, Simon Ghraichy played for the French and American UN-soldiers in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

. In 2015, Simon Ghraichy played at the Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, at the Killington Music Festival in the United States, at the

Baalbeck International Festival The Baalbeck International Festival ( ar, مهرجانات بعلبك الدولية, french: Festival International de Baalbeck) is a cultural event in Lebanon. Since 1955, people from around the world have gone to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa ...

in Lebanon for the 60th edition, at

Bard Music Festival The Bard Music Festival is an annual classical music festival held during the month of August on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Founded in 1990, the festival was created with the intention of finding ways to present th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with the American Symphony Orchestra and was invited at the Lisztomanias Festival in France. He made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in October 2015 Carnegeie Hall concert
/ref> and also played at the

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 ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in March 2016 and at the Berlin Philharmonie in the fall of 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghraichy, Simon 1985 births Living people Lebanese classical pianists 21st-century French male classical pianists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Sibelius Academy alumni