Although pianist Jean-Philippe Collard’s name is as French as his birthplace, Mareuil-sur-Ay in Champagne, his repertoire knows no geographical boundaries. In addition to his complete mastery of the French Concerto literature, his interpretations of works by Bartók, Brahms, Gershwin, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Strauss and Tchaikovsky have met with great acclaim.

Born into a musical family, Jean-Philippe Collard was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at an exceptionally young age. At sixteen he was unanimously awarded the Premier Prix du Conservatoire de Paris and subsequently has won many other awards including the Prix du Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud, and Grand Prix du Concours International Cziffra. Mr Collard was awarded a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in January 2003.

In addition to recitals throughout Europe, North and South America, Russia and the Far East Collard has appeared as soloist with the world’s greatest orchestras including the Zurich Tonhalle, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Frankfurt Radio, Dresden Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Bychkov, Janowski, Ozawa, Previn, Rattle, Krivine and Dutoit. He has performed at the London Proms Concerts and the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Bad Kissingen, Salzburg, Bath, Caramoor, Newport, and Saratoga Festivals. His current orchestral and recital appearances take him all over the world, from San Francisco to Sao Paolo, from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris and Chicago’s Grant Park Festival.

A prolific recording artist on EMI with more than 50 titles to his credit, Collard’s discography includes the Ravel Concertos with Lorin Maazel and the Orchestre National de France (Gramophone Award), all five Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos with André Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Chausson Concert Op 21 with Augustin Dumay and the Muir String Quartet (Grand Prix du Disque). Most recently EMI have released a recording of Tchaikovsky Concerto No 1 coupled with the Piano Concerto composed by his former teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, Pierre Sancan.

Highlights of this season include a return visit to the NHK Symphony Orchestra/Dutoit and performances in China with the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra/Bamert, concertos with the Berlin Sinfonie-Orchester/Casadesus, Pittsburgh Symphony/Tortelier and recitals with Véronique Gens.

Jean-Philippe Collard lives in Paris with his wife and five children.