André Antranik Manoukian (; born 9 April 1957 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

) is a French songwriter, arranger,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician and actor of Armenian descent.

Early years and education

Born in

, France, Manoukian is of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent. He began playing the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

when he was seven years old. Later, when he was a student, worked in a bank and then earned his living as a synthesizer and organ demonstrator in supermarkets. Due to heartbreak, he left France for the United States. At 20, he studied music at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. After the basics he studied musical composition, arrangement and harmony.

Career

Upon returning to France Manoukian started a jazz band called ''Horn Stuff''. At the same time he composed for female singers and two jazz-funk albums were recorded. He was also approached to join the band of the singer

Michèle Torr Michèle Torr (born Michelle Cléberte Tort 7 April 1947) is a French singer and author, best known in non-Francophone countries for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg in 1966 and for Monaco in 1977. Early career ...

. In 1983 he met the singer

Liane Foly Liane Foly (born 16 January 1962, in Lyon) is a popular French blues and jazz singer, actress, presenter and impressionist. Early years Foly was born 16 December 1962Interview in the magazine '' VSD'', p. 98, no 1477, 14–20 December 2005 in ...

and in addition to becoming her partner, he composed her first successes, including ''Au fur et à mesure'' and ''Doucement''. He also wrote for such artists as

Michel Petrucciani Michel Petrucciani (; ; 28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. Despite his health condition and rel ...

Richard Galliano Richard Galliano (born 12 December 1950, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes) is a French accordionist of Italian heritage. Allmusic biography/ref> Biography He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father ...

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

, Freddy Zucchet,

Gilbert Bécaud François Gilbert Léopold Silly (24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001), known professionally as Gilbert Bécaud (), was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-know ...

, Diane Dufresne,

Nicole Croisille Nicole Croisille (9 October 1936 – 4 June 2025) was a French singer and actress. She appeared in 24 films between 1961 and 2005, and recorded several albums since 1961. Perhaps her most heard work is on the soundtrack of 1966 film, '' A Man a ...

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas (, , ; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern folk music). Her music has been influenced by ...

Viktor Lazlo Sonia Dronnier (born 7 October 1960), known by her stage name Viktor Lazlo, is a French writer, singer, and comedian. Born in France, she studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year sh ...

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

, Myriam Abel, Camille Bazbaz et Malia. He completed the musical arrangement and composition for films including '' Quatre étoiles'' et '' Jean-Philippe''. He is currently well known by the general public for being on the M6 reality TV series, ''

Nouvelle Star ''Nouvelle Star'' (; also known as '' À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star'' for the first season) is a French television series based on the popular Pop Idol programme produced by FremantleMedia. It was broadcast by M6 in seasons 1–8 befor ...

'' (New Star). He has been on the jury since the first season along with Marianne James,

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusio ...

and

Dove Attia Jules Dove Attia (Arabic-language, Arabic: جول دوف عطية) better known as Dove Attia (born in Kingdom of Tunisia, Tunisia on 8 June 1957), is a musical producer and television personality. Beginnings Dove Attia is a French citizen bor ...

. During transmission he is the "''poet''" and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

juror. He is a member of the jury of Nouvelle Star series 6, besides singers

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Mount Sinclair, Canada * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sincl ...

and Lio and the music journalist

Philippe Manoeuvre Philippe is a masculine given name, cognate to Philip, and sometimes also a surname. The name may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince ...

. In 2004 he did dubbing in the DVD bonus of ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

II'', where he dubbed one of the jurors of the singing competition. He was also in the transmission of ''T'empêches tout le monde de dormir'' (You stop everyone sleeping) on M6 presented by Marc-Olivier Fogiel where he portrayed in his manner the "Psycho-erotico-cosmico-musical" of the guests by translating the name of a personality in shorthand notes with a

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

which he composed and played on the synthesizer. On 5 February 2007, Manoukian presented the Globes de Cristal besides Elisabeth Quin on

Paris Première Paris Première is a French TV channel, available on cable television, cable, satellite television, satellite and the Digital terrestrial television, digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on 15 December 1 ...

. Since 21 February 2007 he has presented ''Dédé les doigts de fée'' (Dede nimble fingers) on Paris Première, a program about guests who have different music backgrounds. For him, their life is a song recorded on a multi-track. To better portray his guests, Manoukian invites them to recount their lives in a real recording studio and he then composes a novel piece of music based on their stories. In the same year Manoukian composed the new Album (music) for Beverly, a contestant in Nouvelle Star 4 and he also accompanied Miss Dominique at the piano during some of her concerts. His first book ''La Mécanique des Fluides'' (Fluid Mechanics) was released in February 2008. The book is an autobiography in the form of a monologue mainly tracing his artistic career as a pianist and a composer as well as his artistic and emotional life. In 2011, he was one of the contestants during the first season of ''

Danse avec les stars ''Danse avec les stars'' (''DALS''; ) is the French version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise. The show was first broadcast on TF1 on 12 February 2011, the parti ...

''. With his partner

Candice Pascal Candice Pascal (born 2 December 1984) is a French dancer from Agen. She is also an actress and a model. Biography Pascal's father owned a dance school in Agen.. After gaining her baccalaureate from Lycée Saint-Caprais, she spent four years in ...

, he finished in the 8th position (last). He joined singer

Christophe Willem Christophe Frédéric Durier (; born 3 August 1983), better known by his stage name Christophe Willem (), is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of ''Nouvelle Star'' (French version of ''Pop Idol'') in 2006. Early life Willem ...

as a commentator for

France 4 France 4 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. Owned by France Télévisions, the channel is divided into two strands, with children's and family programming under the ''Okoo'' strand airing from 05:00 to 21:00 daily, and arts pr ...

during the semifinals of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

in Lisbon, Portugal. Between 2002 and 2017, he served as one of four judges in the French version of

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

, ''

''.

Discography

Albums

*''Inkala'' (2008) *''So in Love'' (2010) *''Melanchology'' (2011) *''Apatride'' (2017) *''Les pianos de Gainsbourg'' (2021)

Composer and producer

*''The Man I Love'' –

(1988) *''Rêve Orange'' – Liane Foly (1990) *''

My Delicious Poisons ''My Delicious Poisons'' is the fourth studio album by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo. A French version of the album was recorded and released in France, entitled ''Mes Poisons Délicieux''. The album was not as successful as its predecessors ...

'' –

(1991) *''Les petites notes'' – Liane Foly (1993) *''Sweet Mystery'' (English version of ''petites notes'') – Liane Foly (1994) *''Yellow Daffodils'' – Malia (2002) *''La Chanteuse de bal'' – Liane Foly (2004) *''Echoes of Dreams'' – Malia (2004) *''Young Bones'' – Malia (2007) *''Cheyenne Song'' – Gaetane Abrial (2008)

Producer

*''Lumières'' – Liane Foly (1994) *''Jazzaznavour'' –

(1998) *''Faut faire avec'' –

(1999) *''La Vie devant toi'' – Myriam Abel (2006) André Manoukian has also produced albums for

and

Composer

*Translation of "Again" from

(1994) *''Épine de rose'' (lyrics: P. Grosz) – Diane Dufresne (2000) *''Ne dis rien'' – Julie Demne (2002) *''À quoi ça sert'' (lyrics: C. Bazbaz) –

Gérard Darmon Gérard Darmon (, ; born 29 February 1948) is a French-Moroccan actor and singer. He has been nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for his roles in '' Betty Blue'' (1987) and '' Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'' ( ...

(2003) *''Éternelle'' –

(2004) *''Haut les coeurs'' (lyrics: F. Deweare) –

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and television presenter. She is of Acadian heritage, and grew up in the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River valley of New Brunswick, but has spent most of ...

(2009)

Movies

Manoukian made the music of several films. *''Les ténors'', directed by Francis De Gueltz (1993) *'' Four Stars'', directed by Christian Vincent (2006) *'' Jean-Philippe'', directed by Laurent Tuel (2006) *''La grande boucle'', directed by Laurent Tuel (2013) *''

Fonzy ''Fonzy'' is a 2013 French comedy film about a fish deliveryman in Paris becomes involved in a legal battle with his sperm donation children. The film is a remake of the Quebecois film '' Starbuck'' (2011). Plot Twenty years ago, Diego Costa, u ...

'', directed by Isabelle Doval (2013) *''Les yeux ouverts'', TV Movie directed by Lorraine Lévy (2015)

Filmography

References

* * * ** ;Specific

External links

Official website
*
Interview
–

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manoukian, Andre Living people 1957 births Musicians from Lyon French people of Armenian descent French male songwriters French songwriters French jazz pianists 21st-century French male pianists French male jazz pianists