The Lille Piano(s) Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with a ‘marathon’ of music

Over 70 artists, 39 concerts and events, a Mozart marathon (complete piano sonatas, 15 concertos)... From 14 to 16 June, the Lille Piano(s) Festival is going into ‘Olympic’ mode to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Just 20 years ago, Jean-Claude Casadesus, the historic conductor of the Lille National Orchestra, created the Lille Piano(s) Festival. Over the years, this summer event has become a firm fixture, bringing together great performers and up-and-coming talents in classical music, as well as jazz and world music, in an event that is both demanding and popular.

With summer just around the corner, Lille puts on its musical costumes for a (very) long weekend, from 14 to 16 June, dedicated entirely to the piano in all its forms. And this year, in keeping with the Olympic atmosphere, it's all about breaking records.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Lille Piano(s) Festival will bring together the three successive musical directors of the Orchestre National de Lille. The ‘historic’ creator, Jean-Claude Casadesus, will be joined by pianists Abdel Rahman El Bacha and Adam Laloum to perform the last three Mozart concertos (Saturday 15 June at 8 pm at the Nouveau Siècle). Current Music Director Alexandre Bloch will give the opening concert on Friday 14 June at 8 pm, accompanied by pianists François-Frédéric Guy, Jonathan Fournel, and the Geister Duo, for the 23rd, 21st, and Concerto for Two Pianos No. 10. The future Music Director of the ONL, Joshua Weilerstein, who will take up his post in September 2024, will make his first appearance at the baton of the Orchestre National de Lille on Sunday 16 June at 8 pm, accompanied by pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Adam Laloum, and Jonathan Fournel, for another ‘triplet’ of concertos (Nos. 13, 20, and 24).

The ‘marathon’ of piano concertos continues on Sunday 16 June at 4:30 pm, with Nos. 9, 11, and 14 performed by Cédric Tiberghien, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, and François-Frédéric Guy with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.

Among the other ‘Olympic performances,’ Romanian pianist Herbert Schuch will tackle Mozart's complete piano sonatas in five concerts. Mozart may be the main theme of this festival, but he won't be the only one on show over the three days, which will take place at the Nouveau Siècle, the Lille Conservatoire, the Gare Saint-Sauveur, and the Notre-Dame de la Treille cathedral.

Other highlights include Debussy (with Anna Tsybuleva on 15 June at 11 am), Liszt, Ravel, and Chopin, performed by the young generation of pianists who have won several major international prizes (Rodolphe Menguy, Kevin Chen, Masay Kamei), and Vanessa Wagner in an audacious programme combining Bach and Philip Glass (on 15 June at 10 pm). Other keyboards will also be in the spotlight, including the harpsichord with Justin Taylor (16 June at 6:30 pm) and the accordion with the Goldberg Variations revisited by Fanny Vicens (16 June at 3:30 pm).

Last but not least, the Lille Piano(s) Festival offers a superb programme of jazz and world music, in partnership with Tourcoing Jazz (Arielle Besson, Rémi Panossian, Mario Canonge, Louise Jallu Quartet, Macha Gharibian, David Enhco Quartet), film concerts, family shows (including twelve free concerts), conferences, and more.