Jean-François Heisser (born 7 December 1950) is a French classical pianist.

Biography

Born in

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

, Heisser studied piano first with Paul Simonnar in Saint-Étienne, then at the

Conservatoire de Paris 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

Vlado Perlemuter Vladislas "Vlado" Perlemuter (26 May 1904 – 4 September 2002) was a Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher. Biography Vladislas (Vlado) Perlemuter was born to a Polish Jewish family, the third of four sons, in Kovno, Russia (now Kaunas in L ...

. His vast repertoire ranges from romantic music (

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

, Chopin,

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

) to

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

(

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, Gilbert Amy, Berio). From 1984, Heisser teaches at the Conservatoire de Paris. He also presides the ''Académie Maurice Ravel'' of

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; ,Donibane Lohitzune
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eu ...

and is

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the ''Soirées musicales'' of

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

. In 2000, after a great success during the La Folle Journée of

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron concerts, he took over the artistic direction of the . He performs regularly with the Pražák, Lindsay and Ysaÿe Quartets. With Marie-Josèphe Jude, he plays the repertoire with four hands or two pianos, interprets Bartók's two sonatas with violinist Péter Csaba. Other chamber music partners include Sandor Vegh,

Augustin Dumay Augustin Dumay (born 17 January 1949) is a French violinist and conductor from Paris. Biography Dumay was invited as a soloist to appear with Yo-Yo Ma in Paris by Herbert von Karajan. Later on, he performed Béla Bartók's ''Second Concerto'' with ...

, Gérard Poulet,

Georges Pludermacher Georges Pludermacher (born 26 July 1944) is a French classical pianist. He leads an international solo career and performs in the most prestigious festivals. Biography Born in Guéret, Pludermacher began playing the piano at the age of three. He ...

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. He is also affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, a European trade union. Career Thiollet attended a school in Châtelleraul ...

, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', « Solo de duo », Neva Editions, 2015, p.98. Pierre Amoyal,

Régis Pasquier Régis Pasquier (born 12 October 1945) is a French violinist from a family of musicians. His father Pierre Pasquier (1902–1986), a violist and his uncles Jean (1903), a violinist, and Étienne (1905–1997), a cellist, had founded a string trio, ...

, Gérard Caussé,

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on 27 ...

. He also participates to the

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, Kuhmo, Bratislava, and Turin festivals. He gave the complete

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's concertos under the direction of Louis Langrée. In 2001, he played Brahms' first concerto at a farewell concert by

Yevgeny Svetlanov Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, composer, and pianist. Life and work Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting with Alexander Gauk at the Moscow Conservatory Th ...

. In 2002, he gave the world premiere of the solo piano work by

Philippe Manoury Philippe Manoury (born 19 June 1952) is a French composer. Biography Manoury was born in Tulle and began composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to 1 ...

''La Ville'' in the framework of the festival. Heisser also enjoys conducting the orchestra from his piano, as he did with the

Orchestre national de France The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...

in a concerto by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. He has also played with the Moscow and Bucharest Philharmonies, the

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History ...

, the Dutch Chamber Orchestra, the RAI orchestras of Turin, Radio Sofia and Helsinki, the new Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestras operated under the auspices of Bayerischer Rundf ...

, the Orchestre du Mai florentin, conducted, among others, by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Emmanuel Krivine Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor. Biography The son of a Polish mother and a Russian father, Krivine studied the violin as a youth. He was a winner of the ''Premier Prix'' at the Paris Conservatoire, at age 16. ...

Marek Janowski Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. Biography Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappear ...

Myung-Whun Chung Myung-whun Chung (; born 22 January 1953) is a South Korean conductor and pianist. Career Performer Chung studied piano with Maria Curcio and won joint second-prize in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He performed in the Chun ...

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

, Michael Tilson-Thomas etc. Among his pupils are Bertrand Chamayou, Vanessa Wagner, Lucas Debargue.

Prizes

1973: 1st Prize in piano,

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of m ...

and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

* Vianna da Motta (Lisbon) and

Jaén, Spain Jaén () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain and the capital of the Jaén Province, Spain, province of Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The city of Jaén is the administrative and industrial centre for the provinc ...

(first prize) International competitions

Recordings

* Soundtrack of Louis Malle's feature film ''

Au revoir les enfants ''Au revoir les enfants'' (, meaning "Goodbye, Children") is an autobiographical 1987 film written, produced, and directed by Louis Malle. It is based on the actions of Père Jacques, a French priest and headmaster who attempted to shelter Jewish ...

'' ( Carrere, 1987,

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

3218030964835) *

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His best-k ...

's complete work for piano (

Diapason d'or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

), Harmonic Records, 1988. * Brahms' Hungarian Dances, with Marie-Josèphe Jude (

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

, 2001) * Bartók's Sonatas for violin and piano No 1 and No 2, Péter Csaba, violin (, 2001) * Schumann's Sonatas for violin and piano No 1 and No 2, 3 romances for violin and piano, Gérard Poulet, violin (

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

, 1992, 2292-45749-2) *Camille Saint-Saëns, piano concerto n°4, Jean-François Heisser, piano, Les Siècles, conducted by Françoi-Xavier Roth. CD Actes Sud 2010 For several years, he has specialized in the Spanish repertoire and has recorded works for piano by de Falla, Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and Turina (Erato, 1996). He also recorded pieces by

, Bartók,

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 ...

, and

(Naïve, 2000).

References

External links

Jean-François Heisser
(Tons voisins)
Jean-François Heisser, ''l’artiste complet''
(

Radio Classique Radio Classique is a French commercial radio station created in 1983 that broadcasts mainly classical music. Its programmes also contain segments of economic and political news. As of 2015, it had 1.1 million listeners per day. Radio Classique w ...

)
Jean-François Heisser
(

France Musique France Musique () is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was lau ...

)
Official website

Jean-François Heisser's discography
(

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

)
Isaac Albeniz - Iberia (Jean-François Heisser, piano)
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heisser, Jean-Francois Musicians from Saint-Étienne 21st-century French male classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris 1950 births Living people