François-Xavier Poizat, pianist

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“A deeply fascinating musician”
New York Concert Review

Born in 1989 with Swiss, French and Chinese origins, pianist François-Xavier Poizat graduated from the Geneva and Hamburg Conservatory, from the Juilliard School in New York and from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with the teaching of Alexeï Golovin, Evgeni Koroliov, Nelson Goerner, Matti Raekallio and Benedetto Lupo. It is Martha Argerich who propelled him on the international stage by inviting him when he was 12 years old to the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, recognizing his “deep lyricism and remarkable virtuosity”. This marked the beginning of a career that has brought him to perform in already 28 countries in Europe, Asia and America, in venues like the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Konzerthaus and Philharmonie in Berlin, the Seoul Art Center, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory or the Carnegie Hall in New York.

His journey is sprinkled with collaborations with big orchestras such as the Suisse Romande and Svizzera Italiana Orchestra, the National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Lithuanian and Armenian National Chamber Orchestras, the Zürich Chamber Orchestra and the Poznan Philharmonic, among others. He has performed under the baton of Philippe Béran, Thierry Fischer, Neeme Järvi, Lukasc Borowicz, Bernard Labadie or Frédéric Chaslin, in prestigious festivals (the Roque d’Anthéron in France, the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, the Schubertiade in Porrentruy or the Septembre Musical in Montreux in Switzerland).

He has won prizes in significant competitions : Grand Prix at the 2004 International Competition for the Youth in Kassel, Germany, the 2007 Young Soloist Prize of the Radios Francophones Publiques, 1st Prize at the 2009 International Competition for the Youth of Oldenburg and at the 2009 Elise Meyer Competition in Hambourg in Germany, the Jury Special Prize at the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the 2012 Soloist Prize of the Migros Cultural Percentage in Zürich, before being a finalist at the 2013 Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland.

His large solo and chamber music repertoire includes 500 years of music and about thirty concertos, as well as all works with piano by Maurice Ravel, his favorite composer.

Beside his principal activity as a performer, he is currently the director of the International Puplinge Classique Festival in Geneva, a position he has held for the past 13 years, and has recorded 5 CDs with the Naxos, Ars Produktion and Piano Classics labels. Laureate of the Leenaards and Migros scolarships, and regularly recharges himself by playing jazz and studying martial arts, which he has done for 20 years.

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      Imperial March from Star Wars
      Imperial March from Star Wars
      July 23, 2020
      "Bembé" (Merengue for solo piano) by Horacio Fernandez Vazquez
      "Bembé" (Merengue for solo piano) by Horacio Fernandez Vazquez
      July 23, 2020
      Smetana "La Moldau"
      Smetana "La Moldau"
      July 15, 2017
      Erik Satie Gymnopedie
      Erik Satie Gymnopedie
      July 16, 2016
      Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2
      Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2
      Oct 4, 2014
      François-Xavier Poizat à L'École des Fans
      François-Xavier Poizat à L'École des Fans
      Feb 1, 1997
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      PianOrchestra vol.2

      PianOrchestra vol.2

      Label: Ars Produktion

      Works by Smetana, Stravinsky, Khatchaturian, Prokofiev, Ravel and Shostakovitch.

      ARS 38 249 (Wuppertal, Germany 2017)

      Ginastera

      Ginastera

      Label: Piano Classics

      Works by Ginastera

      ASIN: B00UCKXVI6 (Amsterdam, Netherland 2015)

      PianOrchestra

      PianOrchestra

      Label: Ars Produktion

      Works by Liszt, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Bizet.

      ARS 38 139 (Wuppertal, Germany 2013)

      Romantic Piano Concerto Series

      Romantic Piano Concerto Series

      Label: Naxos

      Works by Scharwenka.

      NAXOS 8.572637 (Poznan, Poland 2009)

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      14th Season of the Geneva Puplinge Classique Festival, from July 15th to August 19st, 2023

      Founded in February 2010, this music festival has become one of the most important music event in Geneva, Switzerland.

      François-Xavier is the director from the beginning.

      All videos from the 2016 to 2022 season here : youTube channel.

      More infos at : www.puplinge-classique.ch

      Festival puplinge classique
      Festival puplinge classique
      Festival puplinge classique
      Festival puplinge classique
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      Contact