Marc-André Hamelin

Biography

“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. He regularly performs around the globe with the leading orchestras and conductors of our time, and gives recitals at major concert venues and festivals worldwide.

During the 2021–2022 season, Mr. Hamelin premieres a new piano concerto by Michael Gandolfi with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano commissioned by Paul and Linnea Bert to commemorate Spano’s 20 years as musical director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He also appears with the Dresden Philharmonic and Marek Janowski, in addition to performances of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Bremen Philharmonic (with which he also performs Brahms’s First Piano Concerto), and orchestras across North America. A highlight of the season includes duo recitals with Leif Ove Andsnes at Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, Bozar Brussels, Vienna Konzerthaus, and in San Sebastian, Spain, with additional recital appearances in Berlin, Munich, Santa Fe, New York, Edmonton, and London.

Last summer, Mr. Hamelin performed all five Beethoven concertos over two evenings with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal at the Festival de Lanaudière.

Mr. Hamelin is an exclusive recording artist for Hyperion Records, where his discography spans more than 70 albums, with notable recordings of a broad range of solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoire. Last January, the label released a two-disc set of C. P. E. Bach’s sonatas and rondos that received wide critical acclaim; this June, Hyperion will release the two-disc set of William Bolcom’s The Complete Rags.

Mr. Hamelin has composed music throughout his career, with nearly 30 compositions to his name. The majority of those works—including the Etudes and Toccata on L’homme armé, commissioned by the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—are published by Edition Peters. His other most recent work, Suite à l’ancienne, was premiered in February 2021 by pianist Rachel Naomi Kudo with funding from her Gilmore Young Artist Award.

Mr. Hamelin makes his home in the Boston area with his wife, Cathy Fuller, a producer and host at Classical WCRB. Born in Montreal, he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics’ Association, and has received seven Juno Awards and 11 Grammy nominations, and the 2018 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In December 2020, he was awarded the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry from the Ontario Arts Foundation. Mr. Hamelin is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

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“Hamelin’s legend will grow - right now there is no one like him.”
— Alex Ross, The New Yorker

“Marc-André Hamelin ranks among the small handful of performers in every generation whose abilities defy the imagination.”
— The Toronto Star

“Artists and organizations hoping to revitalize classical music should look to Mr. Hamelin.”
— New York Times

“One of the most adventurous and certainly the most courageous pianists of recent times.”
— International Piano Quarterly

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