Valérie Aimard (born June 1969) is a French classical cellist.

Life

Born 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 ...

, Aimard studied with Michel Strauss and

Philippe Muller Philippe Muller (born 20 April 1946, in Mulhouse) is a French cellist. Biography Philippe Muller (born 20 April 1946, in Mulhouse) is a French cellist and pedagogue. His first contact with the cello was under the guidance of Dominique Prete, ...

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 ...

. She obtained a first prize in cello and a first prize in

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 ...

, and followed the perfectionnement cycle. In 1992, she met

Bernard Greenhouse Bernard Greenhouse (January 3, 1916 – May 13, 2011) was an American cellist and one of the founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio. Life and career Greenhouse was born in Newark, New Jersey and began playing the cello at the age of eight. He ...

, a student of

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Beaux Arts Trio The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio, celebrated for their vivacity, emotional depth and wide-ranging repertoire. They made their debut on 13 July 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, known today as the ...

, who became her master. She has won several international cello and chamber music competitions (including first prize in the Maria Canals International Music Competition in 1991). She has performed in some twenty countries in recitals, chamber music and as a soloist, and has been invited to the United States for three consecutive summers at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. Her recordings have received several awards (Diapason d'Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, ffff de Télérama), in particular the recording of works for cello and piano by

Felix 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 music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

in 1997. When it was published in early 1998, the '' Diapason'' magazine wrote: Aimard is a lecturer in Teacher Training at the 2nd cycle in the Pedagogy Department and teaches chamber music at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles in the Classical and Contemporary Instrumental Disciplines Department of the Conservatoire de Paris. She has performed with her brother, the pianist

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. He focuses on contemporary music. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, h ...

, at the Edinburgh Festival,

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

, Piano Ruhr Festival, Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron and in prestigious venues such as the Kioi Hall in Tokyo and the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

in Paris In addition to classical music concerts, Aimard gives mime shows alone on stage, "Bulles", where she "shares her passion for the art of pantomime".

Records

* Zoltán Kodály's '' Sonata for Solo Cello'', (Agon, November 1996) *

's complete work for cello and piano with Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano (Lyrinx 1998), reissued in 2009 * ''Musique française'', with Cédric Tiberghien, piano (Lyrinx 2002) * ''Budapest 1900'' with Cédric Tiberghien, piano , (Lyrinx 2006) .

References

External links

Official website

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 ...

)
Valérie Aimard, cello Debussy's ''Sonata in D minor'' for cello and piano
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aimard, Valerie 1969 births Living people Musicians from Lyon French women classical cellists French classical cellists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris 20th-century French women musicians 21st-century French women musicians French music educators French women music educators 21st-century French women educators 20th-century French cellists 21st-century French cellists