Jean Rondeau

Known for his inventive and often surprising selections in Baroque keyboard repertoire, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau sustains additional pursuits as a jazz pianist and film composer. Born in Paris on April 23, 1991, and unrelated to the race car driver of identical name, he first encountered the harpsichord's timbre on the radio at age six and insisted on learning its mechanism, which led to a decade of study with Blandine Verlet. He later attended the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, training under James Johnstone and Carole Cerasi. Early recognition arrived through multiple prizes, among them first place at the Musica Antiqua Festival harpsichord competition in Bruges, Belgium, second place at the Prague Spring International Harpsichord Competition in 2012, and the Young Soloist award from the Francophone Public Radio Competition in 2014; these achievements secured his contract with the Erato label later that year. After appearing alongside François Lazarevitch on a 2014 Alpha release of Bach flute sonatas, Rondeau issued his Erato solo debut, the recital Bach Imagine, in 2015. His concert schedule has featured a widely praised appearance at the French embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as a performance at the Festival des Saintes. He plays regularly with the period-instrument group Nevermind, which he co-founded with three Paris Conservatory colleagues, and with the jazz ensemble Note Forget. In 2016 he supplied the score for the German film Paula, centered on painter Paula Modersohn-Becker, and that music subsequently appeared on Erato.

Rondeau's Erato discography began with Vertigo in 2016, presenting works by Rameau and Pancrace Royer, followed by Bach Dynastie in 2017, containing keyboard concertos by various Bach family members, and a 2018 collection of Domenico Scarlatti sonatas. He has maintained an annual release schedule on the label throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, encompassing Barricades in 2020, focused on music by lutenist Thomas Dunford, Melancholy Grace in 2021, a 2022 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, and 2023's Gradus ad Parnassum, extending to Debussy performed on harpsichord.