An outstanding soloist as well as a fine chamber musician, Alexandre Tharaud has dedicated much of his time to French music. 

His recording of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Nouvelles Pièces de Clavecin for harmonia mundireceived great critical acclaim and resulted in invitations for performances internationally.  His next release, Ravel’s complete works for solo piano was Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles – Cros 2003, Diapason d’Or de l’Année, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, Recommandé de Classica and 10 de Répertoire, Pick of the Month-BBC Music Magazine, Stern des Monats-Fono Forum and, Best CD of the year - de Standaard) while his recording of Bach’s Italian Concerti was greeted with an ‘E’ for ‘Excepcional’ in ‘Scherzo’ and a CHOC du Monde de la Musique.  This was followed by an acclaimed CD of Chopin’s Waltzes (‘G’ in  Gramophone): “Aristocratic and sensuous – a young master of the keyboard delivers Chopin playing in the finest French tradition.”. ‘Tic, Toc, Choc’, a collection of Couperin’s pieces, reached the Top 20 in the German classical charts and was CHOC de l’année 2007 by Monde de la Musique.  Chopin’s Préludes is his most recent release.

In recent seasons, Alexandre has performed at such festivals as ‘Piano aux Jacobins’, La Roque d’Anthéron, BBC PROMS, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, Sacrum-Profanum in Krakow, Schleswig-Holstein, Rimini, Festival de musique ancienne de Saintes, Printemps de Monte-Carlo and the Festival Verano Musical de Canarías.

He will soon make his recital debut at the Köln Philharmonie, the Essen Philharmonie, the South Bank piano series and the Rudolfinum in Prague.  He has recently appeared at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Washington Kennedy Centre, Bern Casino, Cité de la Musique, Krakow Philharmonie, and Hoam Art Hall in Seoul. Alexandre is the resident artist of the Opéra de Rouen for the next three years and will soon be touring South Korea and Japan. 

As a soloist, Alexandre has performed with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Taïwan National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice , Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and, in the coming season, will give concerts with the Orchestre National de Lyon, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken.  

The success of the CD ‘Arpeggione’, recorded with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and released in October 2006, has led to invitations to perform in the most prestigious European halls including Frankfurt Alte-Oper, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Bijloke in Gent, Konzerthaus in Freiburg, Vredenburg in Utrecht and the Wigmore Hall.  They will also be touring the United States, South Korea and Japan in the 2008/2009 season.

Alexandre’s adventurous approach to programming has resulted in a number of commissions and premières; he has toured extensively in Europe with his ‘Hommages à Rameau’ programme, and will première his ‘Hommage à Couperin’ featuring works by the composer with pieces by Gagneux, Pesson, Mâche, Hersant and Lenot at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris in May 2008. In October 2006, Alexandre gave the world premiere of Thierry Pécou’s piano concerto, l’Oiseau Innumérable, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

Alexandre Tharaud graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and started his international career in earnest when he won the 2nd Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich.