Guest Artist Bio
Jean-Phillipe Collard
Although pianist Jean-Philippe Collard’s name is as French as his birthplace, Mareuil-sur-Ay, Champagne, his repertoire knows no geographical boundaries. In addition to his complete mastery of French concerto literature, his interpretations of works by Bartok, Brahms, Gershwin, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Strauss and Tchaikovsky have met with great acclaim.
Born into a musical family, Collard was admitted to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris at an exceptionally young age. At 16 he was unanimously awarded the Conservatory’s First Prize, and subsequently he has won many others. He was named Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur in January 2003.
In addition to recitals throughout the world, Collard has appeared as soloist with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Zurich Tonhalle; the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras; the Orchestre de Paris; London’s Philharmonia; the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; and the BBC, San Francisco, London, Vienna, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Boston symphonies. He makes his Oregon Symphony debut at these concerts.
A prolific recording artist with more than 30 titles to his credit, Collard’s discography includes the Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux and Brahms Hungarian Dances (with pianist Michel Beroff), both named Stereo Review’s Record of the Year in their respective years; the Ravel Concertos with Lorin Maazel and the Orchestre National de France, cited by Gramophone Magazine as Best Concerto Recording; and the Chausson Concert, Op. 21 (with Augustin Dumay and the Muir String Quartet) which won the Grand Prix du Disque. He has recorded all five Saint-Saens Piano Concertos with Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the first recordings of Mozart’s arrangements of the six French melodies with baritone Jose van Dam. Other recordings include a disc of Chopin Ballades and the Sonata No. 3, and a Liszt recital disc including the B minor Sonata.
Jean-Philippe Collard lives in Paris with his wife and five children.