Jean-Philippe Collard

Jean-Philippe Collard first gained notice for his command of Fauré and Saint-Saëns, yet over time his programs have moved well past that starting point. Appearances featuring everything from Gershwin to Tchaikovsky have become regular, even while he continues to be viewed as a leading representative of the French school of piano playing.

Collard entered the world on January 27, 1948, in Mareuil-sur-Ay within France’s Marne department. Music surrounded him from childhood, and he began piano studies at age five. Because he favors his left hand—an uncommon trait among elite pianists—he has occasionally dealt with strain injuries on the right. Early signs of exceptional talent surfaced quickly: the Jeunesses Musicales organization sent him to Berlin in 1960 for an international contest, and at sixteen he captured a premier prix from the Paris Conservatory. Additional major prizes followed throughout the next ten years in his native country.

That early momentum carried forward. A well-received recital at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées took place in 1973, and later the same year he joined the San Francisco Symphony under Seiji Ozawa. His first recording arrived in 1982, when he partnered with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade for an EMI Classics collection of Fauré mélodies; five years afterward he issued his initial solo album devoted to the same composer’s keyboard works.

Recitals have taken Collard across Europe, including Russia, as well as North and South America and East Asia. Concerto engagements have included the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2003 he received the title of Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Festival appearances encompass the BBC Proms and numerous other prominent series. During the 2018-2019 season he held the artist-in-residence post with the Montreal Symphony, presenting both orchestral concerts and a solo recital while also leading master classes.

His discography has remained anchored primarily at EMI Classics and its affiliated imprints, though in the mid-2010s he shifted to La Dolce Volta. While earlier releases concentrated on Fauré and Saint-Saëns, later projects have embraced composers from outside France. A 2019 Erato recording presented Georges Auric’s Imaginées. In 2022 he issued a new Fauré solo album and, with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, recorded the concertos of Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov. He currently serves as music director of the Flâneries musicales de Reims festival.