Cédric Pescia

Pianist Cédric Pescia has committed to disc nuanced readings of keyboard literature ranging from Couperin to Messiaen while maintaining an active presence as a chamber performer and as an instructor for lieder vocalists.

Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1976, Pescia began piano study at age seven. Training commenced at the Lausanne Conservatory with Christian Favre and continued at the Geneva Conservatory under Dominique Merlet, where top prizes were awarded at both institutions. Further studies took place at the Berlin University of the Arts with Klaus Hellwig. Additional refinement came through master classes with Daniel Barenboim, Irwin Gage, and Christian Zacharias, among others, as well as multiple sessions at the International Piano Academy on Italy’s Lake Como with Leon Fleisher, Andreas Staier, and Fou Ts’ong. Chamber-music guidance was also received from the Alban Berg Quartet.

A decisive early success arrived with Pescia’s victory at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City in 2002. Recording activity began ambitiously on the Claves label with Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 2005 and has continued on that imprint as well as, periodically, on Aeon.

Concert engagements have taken Pescia across the United States, South America, China, North Africa, and Europe. Solo appearances have included the Utah Symphony, the Orchestre National de Lille, Camerata Bern, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Recitals have been presented at the Philharmonie Berlin, the Salzburg Mozarteum, and London’s Wigmore Hall, with regular participation at leading European festivals. An ongoing survey of Robert Schumann’s piano works has been documented, and a 2017 Claves release featured Ernest Bloch’s violin sonatas performed with frequent partner Nurit Stark. On the La Dolce Volta label, Pescia released Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier; in 2020 a two-piano transcription by Liszt of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, appeared with Philippe Cassard; and in 2022 Cassard and soprano Natalie Dessay joined him for the album Mozart à l’opéra. Master classes are regularly offered, and since 2012 Pescia has served as professor of piano at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva.