«The pianist who’s shaking up the classical world.»
François Delétraz, *Le Figaro*
Of Lebanese and Mexican descent, Simon Ghraichy was born in Paris. After travelling extensively, he returned to his hometown to pursue his musical studies. A pupil of Michel Béroff and Daria Hovora at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, he continued his training with Tuija Hakkila at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. A winner of several international prizes, his virtuosity and distinctive musical approach have enabled him to rapidly build an international career.
Simon Ghraichy has performed in some of the most prestigious venues in the world, in particular the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, on Carnegie Hall in New York, the The Paris, Berlin and St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, the’Royal Opera House, Versailles, the Gran Teatro Nacional from Lima, the Teatro Mayor from Bogotá or even the’Istanbul Opera House. He has also been invited to perform in numerous countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Finland, Norway, Australia, Mexico, Cuba, Lebanon, Chile, Brazil and Egypt.
It is a regular guest at numerous international festivals, including the Besançon Festival, the Bard Music Festival in New York, on Baalbeck International Festival, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, The Violin on the Sand, the Nights at Château de la Moutte, the La Chaise-Dieu Festival, Musicalta, the Biarritz Piano Festival, the Killington Music Festival (United States) or even The City of Ideas (Mexico). He also takes part in unique artistic projects, such as the White Night held at the Institut de France or a special evening with the prima ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot à La Seine Musicale.
In 2021, he went on tour with the’Brittany National Orchestra, particularly around the world premiere from Fractalis, a concerto for piano and orchestra by the composer Gabriela Ortiz, of which he is the dedicatory recipient.
After several albums devoted to Liszt and Schumann, his exclusive collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon gives rise to the albums Legacies and 33, which reflect the richness of his musical world through works by Villa-Lobos, Debussy, Gottschalk, Beethoven, Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Granados and Schumann.
Simon Ghraichy is Steinway artist.
New single. Simon Ghraichy reveals his interpretation of The Fog of War from Philip Glass, a hypnotic piece from the soundtrack to Errol Morris’s documentary. Combining tension, repetition and light, it offers a fascinating insight into the world of the American composer