Biography
Piano
Pierre-Laurent Aimard
PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD is widely acclaimed as a key figure in the music of our time and has had close collaborations with many leading composers including György Ligeti, whose complete works for piano he has recorded. He also worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Benjamin, and Pierre Boulez, who appointed Mr. Aimard, aged nineteen, to become Ensemble intercontemporain’s first solo pianist. He also had a close association with Olivier Messiaen and is known as a leading interpreter of his music.
In the 2021–22 season, Mr. Aimard performs with the Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Vienna Symphony. In recital and chamber projects, he performs works this season by Klaus Ospald and Mark Andre. He will also give performances of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards at the Philharmonie de Paris and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Having recently released a new disc of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Eroica Variations for Pentatone, Mr. Aimard is due to release a new recording of Visions de l’Amen with Tamara Stefanovich in 2022. Recent seasons have also included the release of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux for Pentatone, which was honored with multiple awards including the German music critic’s award “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.”
Currently a professor at the Hochschule Köln, he was previously an Associate Professor at the College de France, Paris, and is a member of Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. He took up the position as Head of New Music at the Reina Sofía School, Madrid in 2021. Mr. Aimard was awarded the 2017 International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in recognition of a life devoted to the service of music. He made his San Franicsco Symphony debut in 1992.
In the 2021–22 season, Mr. Aimard performs with the Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Vienna Symphony. In recital and chamber projects, he performs works this season by Klaus Ospald and Mark Andre. He will also give performances of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards at the Philharmonie de Paris and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Having recently released a new disc of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Eroica Variations for Pentatone, Mr. Aimard is due to release a new recording of Visions de l’Amen with Tamara Stefanovich in 2022. Recent seasons have also included the release of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux for Pentatone, which was honored with multiple awards including the German music critic’s award “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.”
Currently a professor at the Hochschule Köln, he was previously an Associate Professor at the College de France, Paris, and is a member of Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. He took up the position as Head of New Music at the Reina Sofía School, Madrid in 2021. Mr. Aimard was awarded the 2017 International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in recognition of a life devoted to the service of music. He made his San Franicsco Symphony debut in 1992.
