François-Joël Thiollier (born 1943) is an internationally recognized French-American classical pianist. Thiollier was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1943, with both French and American citizenship. He gave his first concert in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the age of 5, then commenced studies at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

with

Robert Casadesus Robert Marcel Casadesus (; 7 April 1899 – 19 September 1972) was a renowned 20th-century France, French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a Casadesus, distinguished musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus an ...

, and at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York under Sascha Gorodnitzki, graduating at the young age of eighteen.Bach Cantatas
/ref> He has won major prizes at international music competitions, including 1st Prize at the 1965 Ettore Pozzoli Competition, 2nd Prize at the 1964 Busoni Competition (the winner was

Michael Ponti Michael Ponti (29 October 1937 – 17 October 2022) was a German-American classical pianist. He was the first to record the complete piano works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. He made more than 80 recordings, around 50 of rarely pla ...

), and 6th Prizes at the 1966

Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in Moscow and the 1968

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

in Belgium. He has concertised very widely in over 40 countries, and has made a large number of well-received recordings, including the complete piano works of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

(two traversals),

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

and Gershwin. He has also recorded

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

's massive Piano Concerto with chorus. François-Joël Thiollier was appointed an Officier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 2003. He was a jury member for the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition (1987), and the Concours de Genève International Music Competition (2012). He is also Chairman of the Jury for the inaugural "Città di Acquaviva delle Fonti" - "Giovanni Colafemmina" Prize Piano Competition. He has participated in numerous other music competition juries. He resides in Italy with his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiollier, Francoisjoel 1943 births 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists American classical pianists American male pianists Juilliard School alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni International Ettore Pozzoli Piano Competition prize-winners Prize-winners of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Living people 20th-century American pianists