A leading exponent of French music, Bertrand Chamayou has established himself as one of the leading figures in the world of piano today. His extensive repertoire includes, in particular, the complete piano works of Ravel, the Education and the Years of pilgrimage from Liszt, as well as the Twenty Perspectives on the Infant Jesus from Messiaen. At the same time, it maintains a close relationship with the contemporary arts scene, collaborating with Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtág, Thomas Adès, Bryce Dessner and Michael Jarrell.
Having presented the complete piano works of Ravel at several major summer festivals – Radio France Occitanie Montpellier Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron Festival and Menton Festival –, it kicks off the 2025–2026 season at the Lucerne Festival, in which he plays the Piano Concerto of’Unsuk Chin with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Karina Canellakis, before launching the 2025 edition of his own Ravel Festival à Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
The season continues with a number of major events: the Orchestre National de France edited by Lorenzo Viotti, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra with Thomas Adès, the Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra directed by Tarmo Peltokoski in the Turangalîla-Symphony, which he then continues with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He has also been invited by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra alongside Barbara Hannigan, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra directed by Blue Stone, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo, in London and then on tour in China. Other highlights of the season also include concerts with the’Atlanta Symphony Orchestra edited by Philippe Jordan and the Frankfurt HR Symphony Orchestra directed by Dalia Stasevska. In the field of chamber music, he continues his collaboration with Barbara Hannigan in major European venues, notably at the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam and at the Bozar, Brussels, ahead of a tour with Leif Ove Andsnes to mark the release of their new album on Warner/Erato. He also performs as part of a duo with Antoine Tamestit in London and in the Vienna Musikverein, whilst continuing its long-standing collaboration with Sol Gabetta.
Bertrand Chamayou is regularly invited to perform with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Atlanta, Montreal, Vienna and London, the Orchestre de Paris, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the radio orchestras of Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Copenhagen, as well as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the’Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In particular, he has performed under the baton of Pierre Boulez and Sir Neville Marriner, and now works with chefs such as’Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Charles Dutoit, Mikko Franck, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Krzysztof Urbański, Philippe Herreweghe, Gianandrea Noseda, Philippe Jordan, Andris Nelsons, François-Xavier Roth, Tugan Sokhiev, Sir Antonio Pappano or Elim Chan.
A highly sought-after chamber musician, Bertrand Chamayou regularly shares the stage with Sol Gabetta, Barbara Hannigan, Vilde Frang, Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Leif Ove Andsnes, the Quatuor Ébène or Antoine Tamestit. His commitment to contemporary composition is particularly evident in his collaborations with today’s composers, including Michaël Jarrell, who dedicated his latest work to him Piano Concerto.
His discography, which has been unanimously praised by critics, includes, in particular, a recording devoted to César Franck for Naïve, a multiple award-winner. His portrayal of the Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 5 from Camille Saint-Saëns received the Gramophone Recording of the Year in 2019. The only artist to have won the Victoires de la Musique Classique five times, he is recording exclusively for Warner/Erato. His complete recording of the piano works of Ravel was also awarded a ECHO Klassik in 2016.
Born in Toulouse, Bertrand Chamayou was spotted at a very early age by the pianist Jean-François Heisser, who became his teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. He then went on to study in London under Maria Curcio. He is now Artistic Director of the Ravel Festival, an international event dedicated to Maurice Ravel in the heart of the French Basque Country, around Saint-Jean-de-Luz.