ClémentLefebvre,

His authentic personality and poetic sensibility were recognised at the 2019 Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition, where he was a prizewinner. Earlier, he had already made his mark in the UK, winning both First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2016 James Mottram International Piano Competition in Manchester. This double success crowned a journey that began when, at the age of ten, he moved to Paris to study with Billy Eidi, who introduced him to the foundations of musical art. He later continued his studies with Jean-Michel Dayez and Hortense Cartier-Bresson, and at the Paris Conservatoire with Roger Muraro and Isabelle Dubuis.

 He also benefited from the guidance of Claire Désert, Alain Planès and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and received support as a laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation, the Safran Foundation and the Société Générale Mécénat.

His debut recording, Rameau/Couperin (2018), revealed a distinctive artistic voice and was met with immediate, unanimous acclaim: a “masterstroke” crowned with a Diapason d’Or Découverte. Three years later, his Ravel album was showered with awards (Choc de Classica, Cinq Diapasons…). “At last we have the Ravellian of the coming decades — and we shall not let him go!” exclaimed Philippe Cassard.

Inspired, elegant and sensitive, Lefebvre builds his art on a refined aesthetic sense and the rigour of a deeply thought-out musical vision. These qualities drew him to the label La Dolce Volta, with whom he recorded a duo with Philippe Bianconi. New projects soon followed: with violinist Eva Zavaro he recorded Fauré and Szymanowski, while his most recent album, dedicated to Scriabin, was awarded a Diapason d’Or on its release and selected by Le Monde.

The range of French festivals and concert halls that welcome him grows year after year: from the Louvre Auditorium to Radio France, from La Roque d’Anthéron to the Lyon Opera, from Metz Arsenal to La Folle Journée in Nantes and La Côte-Saint-André. In 2024, the Berlioz Festival invited him, alongside Philippe Bianconi, to perform the complete works of Ravel for solo piano and two pianos.

In 2023, he made his debut at the Salle Philharmonique de Liège in the distinguished “Piano 5 étoiles” recital series. His career has also taken him to Dublin, Beijing, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Greece, Poland, Switzerland and Japan (tour in 2024). In Brazil, he performed with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira and the Orquestra Sinfônica de Minas Gerais, extending his collaborations with orchestras such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine and the Orchestre National de Metz.

Alongside his career as a concert pianist, Clément Lefebvre is also active as a teacher. He is assistant professor to Marie-Josèphe Jude at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and regularly gives masterclasses. Whether performing Schumann and Chopin, Fauré and Ravel, or Rachmaninov and Scriabin, his playing — sincere and true — speaks equally to the heart and the mind, striking a perfect balance of tenderness and resolve, dream and energy, in a musical discourse that is constantly renewed. Clément Lefebvre has a noble voice, and poetry at his f ingertips. 

(By Jany Campello)