Franco-American by birth, François-Joël Thiollier has assimilated the best of several cultures : born in Paris, he played his first concert at the age of five in New York. As a child, he studied in France with Robert Casadesus and distinguished teachers of the Paris Conservatoire. Subsequently, he studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School of Music where he obtained both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the record ages of eighteen and nineteen ; with top honors and awards in all subjects, both academic and musical. He went on to win eight prizes in international piano competitions, notably the Queen Elisabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions.

François-Joël Thiollier’s enormous repertoire (80 concerti), his exceptional musical culture and his extraordinary pianistic command are the key to his international success as he now concertizes in over 40 countries with the leading orchestras such as the Moscou and Leningrad Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Hague Residentie Orkest, l’Orchestre de Paris, l’Orchestre National de France, l’Orchestre Philharmonique, the Italian Rai, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and etc. in famous concert halls, among which the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Teatro Real and the New Auditorium in Madrid, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Milan Scala, the Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.