Bios & promo — benchmark artistes

French pianist François Dumont's international career was launched by his prize-winning successes at the Chopin, Queen Elisabeth, Clara Haskil, and Monte Carlo Piano Masters competitions. François just made his debut in the mythical Musikverein in Vienna. This season's highlights will include performances of Liszt's Totentanz with the Orchestre National de France, conducted by François-Xavier Roth and a Chopin programme in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Leonard Slatkin chose Mr. Dumont as the soloist to record the two Ravel Piano Concertos with the Orchestre National de Lyon, which has be released on the Naxos label with great critic acclaim. Dumont has appeared as soloist with orchestras around the world such as the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Cleveland and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras. Numerous solo appearances have taken him amongst others to Chopin festivals in Paris, Nohant, Geneva, Festival International de la Roque d'Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington. He is also regularly invited to China, Japan and South Korea. His discography includes the complete Mozart Sonatas, complete Ravel Piano Music, Complete Beethoven and Schubert Trios, three Chopin albums and two Bach programmes. He has recorded Fauré's Nocturnes on period piano and is recording the complete Mozart Concertos with the Orchestre National de Bretagne, directing from the keyboard. Chamber music is an important part of Mr. Dumont's musical life and performances. He frequently collaborates with musical partners such as Sayaka Shoji, Marc Coppey, Augustin Dumay, Laurent Korcia, the Prazak and Voce quartets, and explores Lieder repertoire with his wife, the soprano Helen Kearns. Much involved in contemporary music, François Dumont actively collaborates with composers such Bacri, Dusapin, Finzi, Lacaze, Murail, Tanguy. Born in Lyon, he studied with Pascale Imbert, Chrystel Saussac and Hervé Billaut. At the age of fourteen, he entered the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and studied with Bruno Rigutto. He subsequently studied at the prestigious International Piano Academy Lake Como and the Lieven Piano Foundation with artists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Murray Perahia, Fou Ts'ong and William Grant Naboré. Passionate by transmission, François Dumont is piano professor at the Haute-Ecole de Musique de Genève / Neuchâtel, and is regularly invited for masterclasses in Europe and Japan.

French pianist François Dumont's international career has been launched by his success in major international piano competitions winning prizes in the Chopin Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Clara Haskil Competition, the Montecarlo Piano Masters. He has been nominated for the Victoires de la musique, a major French classical music event. He has received the Prix de la Révélation from the Syndicate of Music Critics in France. François Dumont has been chosen by Leonard Slatkin to play and record both Ravel concerti with the Orchestre National de Lyon. He appears as a soloist with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, the Montecarlo Philharmonic, the Warsaw National Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Tokyo Symphony with conductors such as Jesùs Lopez-Cobos, Antoni Wit, Arie van Beek, Philippe Bender, Stefan Sanderling. François Dumont was fourteen years old when he entered the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Bruno Rigutto's class. He later studied at the prestigious Lieven Piano Foundation and the Lake Como International Piano Academy with artists such as Murray Perahia, Leon Fleisher, Dmitri Bashkirov, William Grant Naboré, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Staier and Fou Ts'ong.

"Respectful of style, endowed with a fertile imagination, this deep, subtle performer, architect of sound, delivers a vision where intelligence rivals spontaneity." Michel Le Naour – Cadences François Dumont is the laureate of some of the most prestigious international competitions: the Chopin Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Clara Haskil Competition, and the Monte-Carlo Piano Masters. He has been nominated for the Victoires de la Musique in the 'instrumental soloist' category and received the Prix de la Révélation de la Critique Musicale Française. François Dumont was chosen by Leonard Slatkin to perform and record both of Ravel's piano concertos with the Orchestre National de Lyon as part of their complete Ravel cycle. The album, released by Naxos, was warmly received by critics: "A very accurate vision of the two concertos; perfect classical clarity in the G major concerto… the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, powerful, even heartbreaking," writes Jacques Bonnaure in Classica. He has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colombian National Orchestra, the Orchestre Pasdeloup, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, the Orchestre National des Pays de Loire, and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, working with conductors such as Jesús López-Cobos, Mykola Diadiura, Roberto Fores-Veses, David Reiland, François-Xavier Roth, Aziz Shokhakimov, Alexander Sladkovsky, and Antoni Wit. Born in Lyon, he studied with Pascale Imbert, Chrystel Saussac, and Hervé Billaut. At the age of fourteen, he entered the C.N.S.M.D. in Paris in Bruno Rigutto's class. He further refined his skills at the Como International Academy and the Lieven Piano Foundation with Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Staier, and Fou Ts'ong. François Dumont regularly performs recitals at prestigious festivals such as Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, the Roque d'Anthéron Festival, the Chopin Festival in Nohant, the Chaise-Dieu Festival, the Lisztomanias in Châteauroux, the Chopin Festival in Paris, the Radio-France Montpellier Festival, the Besançon Festival, the Epau Festival, the Nuits Musicales in Uzès, the Nuits du Suquet in Cannes, the Grands Concerts in Lyon, the Chopin Festival in Geneva, the Vézère Festival, the Folles Journées in Nantes, the Sociedad Filarmónica in Bilbao, the Música – Musika Festival in Bilbao, and the Kennedy Center in Washington. He is regularly invited to China, Japan, and South Korea. His solo discography includes the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (Anima Records), a Chopin album, two Bach albums (Artalinna), a Wagner/Liszt album (Piano Classics), a double live album of the Chopin Competition (published by the National Chopin Institute of Warsaw), and the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel (Piano Classics). He has recorded a series of Mozart concertos, praised for "cantabile and inspired playing, with a profound understanding of detail" and "perfect synergy with the musicians." His recording of Chopin's Nocturnes has been highly praised: "In a very crowded repertoire, that of Chopin's Nocturnes, pianist François Dumont joins the ranks of the greatest. From this essential body of the composer's music, he offers a vision of rare coherence." His album dedicated to Fauré's Nocturnes, recorded on a 1922 Gaveau piano, received the highest accolade, the "Supersonic" award, from Luxembourg magazine Pizzicato. In 2022, the pianist released an album dedicated to Chopin's Ballades and Impromptus, as well as a disc featuring César Franck's Quintet and Dvořák's "American" Quartet, in collaboration with the Pražák Quartet. In 2024, François Dumont recorded his first duo album with cellist Marc Coppey, interpreting works by Gabriel Fauré. In November 2024, he released his album "Debussy, Clair de Lune", recorded on the piano of Debussy preserved at the Brive-La-Gaillarde Museum. The album received critical acclaim and prestigious distinctions, such as the Choc Classica: "The instrument touches your heart, but it is the pianist who gives it magic." He enjoys performing chamber music with Sayaka Shoji, Marc Coppey, Laurent Korcia, Augustin Dumay, and the Pražák Quartet. He has been forming a duo with soprano Helen Kearns since 2003. During the 2024-2025 season, he will perform at the Salle Gaveau, with the ONB under Nicolas Ellis, with the Orchestre d'Auvergne conducted by Thomas Zehetmair, and on tours in Japan (2024) and Chile (2025).

François Dumont est Lauréat des plus grands concours internationaux : le Concours Chopin de Varsovie (2010), le Concours Reine-Elisabeth, les Piano Masters de Monte-Carlo. Nominé aux Victoires de la musique, il reçoit le Prix de la Révélation de la Critique Musicale Française. Il se produit en soliste avec l'Orchestre National de France dirigé par François-Xavier Roth, au Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, à la Philharmonie de Paris, au Musikverein de Vienne ainsi qu'en tournée au Japon. Leonard Slatkin l'invite pour enregistrer les deux concertos de Ravel avec l'Orchestre National de Lyon pour Naxos. Il se produit dans les grands festivals tels que la Chaise-Dieu, Radio-France Montpellier, Piano aux Jacobins, la Roque d'Anthéron, Chopin à Nohant, Sociétés Chopin de Paris et Genève, Palazzetto BruZane à Venise. Né à Lyon, il travaille avec Pascale Imbert, Chrystel Saussac et Hervé Billaut et rentre à quatorze ans au CNSMD de Paris dans la classe de Bruno Rigutto. Il se perfectionne à l'Académie Internationale de Côme et la Lieven Piano Foundation auprès de Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Andreas Staier et Fou Ts'ong. Sa discographie comprend plus de 35 albums, incluant l'intégrale des Sonates de Mozart, l'oeuvre pour piano de Ravel, les Trios de Beethoven et Schubert, deux disques Bach, plusieurs disques Chopin, ainsi qu'un double album publié par l'Institut Chopin de Varsovie, un disque Wagner/Liszt, Fauré, Moussorgsky et une intégrale en cours des concertos de Mozart avec l'Orchestre National de Bretagne, dirigés du piano. Il pratique assidûment la musique de chambre avec Sayaka Shoji, Augustin Dumay, Laurent Korcia, Marc Coppey, Henri Demarquette, Xavier Philipps, les quatuors Prazak et Voce, et explore le Lied avec son épouse, la soprano Helen Kearns. Il collabore activement avec des compositeurs tels que Bacri, Dusapin, Finzi, Lacaze, Murail, Tanguy. Passionné par la transmission et la pédagogie, François Dumont est professeur de piano à la Haute-Ecole de Musique de Genève – Neuchâtel. Il est régulièrement invité pour des masterclasses en Europe et au Japon.

François Dumont is a French classical pianist born October 19, 1985, in Lyon, France. He won fifth prize at the sixteenth International Chopin Piano Competition. Additional achievements include First Prize in the Jean Françaix International Competition (2007), First Prize in the Steinway International Piano Competition (2002), and laureate status in the Perlemuter, Clara Haskil, Hamamatsu, and Piano Campus competitions. He received the Grand Piano Prize of Spedidam (2005) and the "Declic" Prize from the French Government. Dumont began piano study at age five. At fourteen, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris, studying under Bruno Rigutto and Hervé Billaut. His mentors included Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Paul Badura-Skoda, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Stanislav Ioudenitch, and Fou Ts'ong. He trained at the International Piano Academy Lake Como. He has performed with orchestras in Lyon, Montpellier, Corsica, and Paris, playing works by Poulenc, Mozart, and Bach. In 2006, he performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia.