Charles Richard-Hamelin

Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin maintains a broad performing scope that stretches from Bach through Dutilleux and encompasses solo recitals, orchestral concertos, and chamber collaborations. His programming has placed particular weight on Chopin, a focus underscored when he captured a top award at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition.

Born on July 17, 1989, in Joliette, Quebec—northeast of Montreal—he completed undergraduate studies at McGill University in 2011 before earning a graduate degree from the Yale School of Music in 2013. Instruction during these years came from Paul Surdulescu, Sara Laimon, and Jean Saulnier. Early professional recognition arrived quickly after graduation: second prize at the 2014 Montreal International Musical Competition and third prize at that year’s Seoul International Music Competition. In 2015 he traveled to Warsaw for the International Chopin Piano Competition, held every five years, where he secured second place overall and received the Krystian Zimerman Award for Best Performance of a Sonata. These distinctions opened doors to prominent engagements across Canada’s French- and English-speaking regions, as well as appearances with the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Korean Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, and roughly fifty additional ensembles. Festival platforms have likewise featured him, among them La Roque d’Anthéron in France, the Prague Spring Festival, and Warsaw’s Chopin and his Europe Festival.

By the early 2020s Richard-Hamelin had issued nine recordings. One captures his Chopin Competition performances and was released by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute; the remaining titles, issued on Analekta, include a Beethoven violin-and-piano sonata cycle recorded with Andrew Wan, first violinist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, together with solo discs centered on Chopin and other composers.