Claire Désert

Claire Désert touches her public by the grace, depth and humility of her interpretations. She is a frequent guest at such leading international festivals as Radio France-Montpellier, La Roque d'Anthéron, LOrangerie de Sceaux, Piano aux Jacobins, Lille Piano(s) Festival, Festival International de Colmar, Consonances, and the La Folles Journées of Nantes, Bilbao, and Tokyo, where she performs each year. She also appears regularly with orchestra, notably with the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National d'lle de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Lille, and Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Claire Désert is a peerless chamber musician of rare artistry. Her partners of choice include the pianist EmmanuelStrosser, the cellist Anne Gastinel, the violinists Nemanja Radulovic, Philippe Graffin and Régis Pasquier, the Parisii and Sine Nomine Quartets, and the Moragues Wind Quintet. At the age of fourteen she entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she was awarded a premier prix in chamber music in the class of Jean Hubeau, and the premier prix in piano by unanimous decision of the jury (Special Prize for the 1985 examination) in the class of Vensislav Yankoff. She was admitted to the postgraduate course in piano in the same year, then won a French Government scholarship for a year's study in Evgeny Malinin's class at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. On her return to Paris she entered the postgraduate course in chamber music, in the class of Roland Pidoux. Her extensive discography includes a Schumann CD (her first recording, which won a '10 de Répertoire'), a disc of the Scriabin and Dvorák Concertos with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg which was awarded a Victoire de la Musique in 1997, and two recordings with Anne Gastinel, one devoted to Schumann, the other to Schubert. Her two most recent releases have been on Mirare: a Schumann programme including the Davidsbündlertänze and Dvorák's Slavonic Dances for piano duet with Emmanuel Strosser.