Jacqueline Bourgès-Maunoury, pianist

After a remarkable debut at the age of 13 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées performing Mozart’s Concerto K. 414, she was unanimously awarded the Concert Diploma at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in the class of G. Mounier, and later received the Premier Prix de Virtuosité “avec distinction” from Geneva Conservatory of Music, under L. Hiltbrand, a disciple of Dinu Lipatti.

She honed her artistry in various international masterclasses with renowned pianists, but it was under the guidance of Jean Fassina, one of the great piano pedagogues, that she undertook a profound and transformative artistic journey, away from the stage, allowing her to truly find her voice. She made her return to the spotlight by replacing Maria João Pires in two Bach concertos under the direction of Claire Gibault — performances that were met with unanimous critical acclaim and propelled her to the forefront.

She soon caught the attention of György Cziffra, who invited her to open one of his recitals, and has since collaborated with artists such as Jean-Pierre Wallez, Alain Marion, Olivier Charlier, Nicolas Dautricourt, Paul Rouger, François Guye, Xénia Jankovic, Susan Graham, Stéphanie d'Oustrac, and, in recent years, Dame Felicity Lott, with whom she regularly shares the stage. Together, they have created several musical and literary productions including Hugo en mélodie, Un amour de Swann (with Alain Carré), and Un amour énigmatique (based on the correspondence between Ivan Turgenev and Pauline Viardot), performed alongside Lambert Wilson. It was agin with Lambert Wilson, this time as a singer, that they opened the 2022 Dinard Opening Festival with a new Franco-British program titled Darling, je vous aime!

More recently, she has begun a collaboration with Marie-Christine Barrault, participating in several musical readings, including Je ne suis pas sainte, quoiqu’on dise! (based on the private journal of George Sand), which continues to receive enthusiastic praise from audiences.

Invited as a soloist or chamber musician to numerous festivals,, her career has taken her to London, Berlin, Geneva, Brussels, Rome, Florence, Palermo, Lisbon, Porto, Bucharest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Rio de Janeiro, Tahiti, and many of the world’s most prestigious venues.

Her three recordings — devoted to Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin-Rachmaninov — have been warmly praised by the press, and led to her being featured as the main guest on Damien Hammouchi’s television show Culture 8 on Direct 8. Her album Variations des cimes, featuring major variation works by César Franck, Bach-Busoni, Brahms, and Liszt, was awarded the “Maestro” distinction by Pianiste Magazine.