Alain Lefèvre

Within Quebec, pianist Alain Lefèvre functions as a central figure in the province’s classical scene. Among its top-selling classical musicians, he has drawn wide notice through school and hospital recitals that have reached roughly 250,000 children. Born in Poitiers, France, on July 23, 1962, he spent most of his childhood in the Montreal region after his family settled in Canada. His father played clarinet, and other relatives were also musicians. He began lessons at five, shortly after the move, and within a year captured the first of nine first prizes at the Canadian Music Competition while making his recital debut at Quebec City’s Grand Théâtre. At nine he took first place in the Heintzman Musical Competition and was profiled by the Montreal Star as a “star of tomorrow.” He rejected the child-prodigy label, telling an interviewer quoted in the Canadian Encyclopedia that “nothing in my career was easy. I never was a 'skyrocket' pianist. Every step was tough.” He later pursued further training in France, first with Jeanne-Marie Darré and Lucette Descaves, then from 1979 to 1983 at the Paris Conservatory under Pierre Sancan. His 1980 first prize at the Concours International Alfred-Cortot in Milan opened the way for his professional career. In 1982 he toured with Christian Ferras and took part in a major tribute concert presented after the violinist’s suicide. Lefèvre has appeared as concerto soloist with Canada’s Montreal, Québec, and Toronto Symphonies, with the Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, and National Symphony in Washington, with the Orchestre National de France and the Hamburg and Stuttgart Symphonies, with the Royal Philharmonic and the London Mozart Players, and with the China Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Moscow Virtuosi. His recital activity remains extensive and includes commissions from Henri Dutilleux, John Corigliano, and several French Canadian composers. His recording career began in 1994 with a performance of Corigliano’s Piano Concerto alongside the Pacific Symphony Orchestra on the Koch International label; he has also recorded for CBC and, on the Analekta imprint, released The Bounds of Our Dreams with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in 2018.