Olivier Gardon

Biography

Awards and honours

Concours Reine Elizabeth – Prix
Concours Long-Thibaud – Grand Prix Marguerite Long
Viotti International Music Competition – Prix
Monza International Piano Competition – Prix
Senigallia International Competition – 1er Prix
Casella Piano Competition – Prix

Pictures

Videos

It was at the Opéra de Nice that Olivier Gardon played with orchestra for the first time. He was only ten years old when he performed Bach's Concerto in D minor. At the age of seven, he was noticed by Hungarian pianist Lili Kraus, who strongly encouraged him to continue down this path.

A pupil of Madame Audibert-Lambert, a disciple of Alfred Cortot, he continued his piano studies at the Conservatoire de Nice and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) de Paris with Pierre Sancan, a disciple of Yves Nat. After winning by unanimous jury vote for piano and first prize for chamber music in Jean Hubeau's class, he went on to perfect his skills with Jean Fassina, Géza Anda, Lili Kraus and György Sebök. This new encounter with the Hungarian school further perfected the richness of his sound palette, and his mastery of gesture and technique.

A laureate of several prestigious international competitions, Olivier Gardon won the Grand Prix Marguerite Long (1973), the Prix Reine Elizabeth (1975), the Prix international Viotti, the Prix international de Monza, the Prix de Senigallia and the Prix Casella de Naples. He is also a laureate of the Fondation de la Vocation and the Alex de Vries Foundation in Antwerp.

The press discovered "a colorful artist" and praised his "elegance, ease, refinement of touch", "strong presence, torrential sensitivity, his art of sculpting the keyboard like a living material...". And so began a brilliant career as a soloist and chamber musician, which took him to the world's greatest musical capitals.

In the USA, the New York Times praised his "intense, clear and refreshingly restrained touch" in his Carnegie Recital Hall debut. In Japan, he plays at Tokyo's Kioi Hall and Bunka-Keikkan, Osaka's Izumi Hall, and Hamamatsu's Act City. At Nagoya's Aichi Concert Hall, he performed Liszt's First Concerto with the Shinsei Nippon Orchestra as part of the New Year's concert, broadcast live on NHK television.

In London, he performed chamber music at the Wigmore Hall, and his interpretation of Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 and Schumann's Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra "truly astounded" audiences at the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican. At Salzburg's Grosses Festspielhaus, where he plays with the Mozarteum Orchester, and at the Mozarteum's Grosser Saal, where he performs as a chamber musician, audiences appreciate "his musical and technically assured playing, supported by irreproachable power and rhythmic presence", as well as "his perfect mastery of the tonal palette in all its nuances, from the darkest atmospheres to poetic lyricism".

In Paris, where he is appreciated for his "nobility and intensity of style", his "poetic playing and steel fingers", his "solid style, as pure as gold, sensitive", he performs Bach's Concerto in D minor at the Salle Pleyel with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under Karl Münchinger and with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France under Ferdinand Leitner. He performs in recital at the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, where he also plays under Samuel Friedman.

Season 2023-2024

11 Décembre 2023

Hochschule für Musik

Hanovre – Allemagne

December 13, 2023

Salle Cortot

Paris – France

27 – 28 Janvier 2024

Conservatoire

Aix-en-Provence – France

18 Février – 2 Mars 2024

Rencontres musicales franco-asiatiques à la Saline royale

Arc-et-Senans – France