Biography

Pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertory, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in concert and on disc. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2006.

The 2018-19 season includes Mr. Hamelin’s return to Carnegie Hall for a recital on the Keyboard Virtuoso Series, in addition to recitals in Montreal, Seattle, Berlin, Florence, Salzburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Istanbul, among others. Mr. Hamelin also appears with the BBC Scottish Symphony; the Los Angeles, Stuttgart, and Moscow State philharmonics; the Vancouver, Cincinnati, and Oregon symphonies; and he tours in Europe with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Also a composer, Mr. Hamelin’s works are primarily published by Edition Peters. He was a distinguished member of the jury of the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2017 where each of the thirty competitors performed his composition Toccata on “L’Homme armé.”

Mr. Hamelin records exclusively for Hyperion Records. His most recent releases are a disc of Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-flat major and Four Impromptus; a landmark disc of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Concerto for Two Pianos with Leif Ove Andsnes; Feldman’s For Bunita Marcus; and Medtner’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the London Philharmonic and Vladimir Jurowski. Mr. Hamelin was honored with the 2014 ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of Year (Piano) Award and Disc of the Year by Diapason Magazine and Classica Magazine for his three-disc set of Busoni’s late piano music. An album of his own compositions, Hamelin: Études, received a 2010 Grammy nomination (his ninth) and a first prize from the German Record Critics’ Association.

Mr. Hamelin makes his home in the Boston area with his wife, Cathy Fuller. Born in Montreal, he is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the German Record Critics’ Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

(March 2019)