Eliane Reyes

Éliane Reyes (June 7, 1977 in Verviers) is a Belgian pianist who is known both as a soloist and as a chamber musician.[1] In 2012 she was appointed professor of piano at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles. She is married to the French composer Nicolas Bacri.[2]

Biography

A very precocious talent, whose parents are both musicians - her mother a Belgian piano teacher and founder of the Centre Guillaume Lekeu for music in Verviers, and her father a Franco-Mexican violinist who is a member of the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra) - Eliane Reyes began piano lessons with her mother at the age of 3 and gave her first recital at the age of 5. That same year she was awarded the Cesar Franck prize by Jörg Demus.

At the age of 9 she was invited to perform for the first time on the popular French television program, L'Ecole des fans by the well-known animator, Jacques Martin. The guest star on the program that day was Cyprien Katsaris. Eliane played a Chopin waltz and proved to be such a success with the audience that she was invited to play a second piece.

A few months later she also became one of the youngest winners of the Gyorgy Cziffra Foundation prize, in Senlis, France.

At the age of 10, she represented Belgium at the Young European Musicians tournament in Amsterdam where she performed the Haydn concerto in D major with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Sergiu Commissiona.

At the age of 11, as part of the festivities to celebrate the 50 years of Jeunesses Musicales, she played in the Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels with the National Orchestra of Belgium, conducted by Grant Llewellyn, the double concerto by Mozart with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden.The same year she also performed as a soloist under the direction of René Defossez and Andre Vandernoot, and the following year, played the second concerto of Chopin with the National Orchestra of Belgium, conducted by Gilbert Varga

At 13 she won her first piano prize at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Shortly thereafter, Eliane boldly rang the doorbell of Martha Argerich, in Brussels, and asked to play for her. Since then they have often met and Eliane considers the great Argentine pianist as her musical spiritual model.

Studies

Eliane Reyes began her formal musical studies at the Brussels Conservatory. She then continued at the Royal Lemmens Conservatory in Leuven Lemensinstituut, and later at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel where she received the honorable mention, "with great distinction and virtuosity." Finally, she completed her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris where she was the first Belgian to be accepted into this institution’s post graduate (third cycle) program. .

Among the teachers who had the most influence on her were Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden (her professor at the Brussels Conservatory), and Alain Weiss (Lemmensinstituut).

Eliane Reyes was also a graduate of the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and undertook additional training with Hans Leygraf at the Salzburg Mozarteum and attended numerous master classes with Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Paul Badura-Skoda, Murray Perahia, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, G. Sebok, M. Beroff, Brigitee Engerer and Vitaly Margulis.

Career

1988-2000: Eliane Reyes appears as soloist at the International Tibor Varga Music Festival and gives a series of concerts in Bonn, Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg (her interpretation of the Schumann concerto in Bonn, under the direction of Heribert Beissel is particularly notable).

In 1993 she performs as a concert soloist with the New England Chamber Orchestra in Boston (USA), before embarking on a series of concerts throughout Europe as well as Russia, the Far East and Africa.

2001-2009: In 2001, Vladimir Ashkenazy invites her to give a recital in Berlin. That same year she also gives a recital in Switzerland at the St. Moritz Festival.

Thereafter, Eliane Reyes performs in major European venues such as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and at the Rudolfinum in Prague.

She also participates in many festivals in Germany, Belgium, France, Estonia, and Switzerland, under the direction of conductors such as Rudolph Barshai, Sergiu Comissiona, Tibor Varga, his son Gilbert Varga, Lionel Bringuier, René Defossez, Grant Llewellyn, Heribert Beissel, and Andrew Vandernoot.

2010/2011: As part of an initiative entitled, "Rising Stars," Eliane Reyes plays in several European capitals, in partnership with violinist Lorenzo Gatto.

In 2011, she performs Schumann and Brahms with the Parkanyi Quartet at the Festival of Val-Dieu.

The same year, as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Auvers-sur-Oise festival and as a tribute to Henri Dutilleux, Eliane Reyes creates the world premiere of "Fall Outline" (“Esquisse d’automne”) by Nicolas Bacri, with the composer present.

Since 2005, Eliane Reyes has been the official accompanist for the violin session of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition of Belgium.

She also teaches at the Royal Coservatoire in Brussels and regularly plays with chamber music ensembles.

Repertoire

Eliane Reyes has a predilection for French composers and contemporary music.

Tributes

A number of very prominent figures of the music world think highly of her. These include Vladimir Ashkenazy, who upon hearing her at a very young age declared: "For many years no one has impressed me as much as this young pianist," as well as Martha Argerich, “A wonderful talent for music” and Tibor Varga, who after conducting her in a Joseph Haydn concerto at the age of 10 had this to say about her performance: "... touching, deeply moving, unforgettable."

Awards and other distinctions

Recordings

Eliane Reyes recordings include works by Alexandre Tansman, Darius Milhaud, Claude Debussy, Nicolas Bacri, Michel Lysight and Jean-Marie Simonis, which have appeared under the Naxos, Fuga Libera, Pavane, Dux and Kalidisc labels. They include live and studio recordings.

Her recordings have received a number of rewards: 4 stars from “Classica 5 Diapasons” (twice) awarded by the French music magazine Diapasons, an Award Recomendado from the Spanish music magazine, CD Compact and a Clef ResMusica by the prestigious online French music magazine ResMusica for her CD of the 24 Intermezzi by Alexandre Tansman (2011).

References

  1. ↑ Naxos bio
  2. ↑ La Verviétoise Eliane Reyes nommée professeur au Conservatoire royal Olivier Delfino "Le 31 août 2012 restera une journée inoubliable pour la pianiste verviétoise Eliane Reyes. Non seulement, elle s’est mariée avec le compositeur français Nicolas Bacry à l’Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles, mais en plus, elle a été nommée professeur de piano au Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles."

External links