Described in the media as a musician with a clear and dense sound (Diapason), as a brilliant, very virtuosic pianist (Frédéric Lodéon, France-Musique) and of prodigious means (Classica), Aurélien Pontier is one of the foremost young pianists in France. His last album, dedicated to Liszt’s operatic transcriptions, was enthusiastically reviewed by the press and received a ‘Choc’ award from the magazine Classica.

Both a soloist and a sought-after chamber music partner, he has made his way through all piano repertoire since his debut at the Paris Opera at age nine.
Born to a family of musicians, Aurélien Pontier began piano with Martha Zabaleta. Emmanuel Krivine noticed him and hired him to play Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at age twelve with the Orchestre National de Lyon. Immediately following this, he entered the Paris Conservatory as student of Jean-François Heisser and Rena Cherechevskaïa at age thirteen, the youngest student of the institution.

He went on to work with Murray Perahia, Maria Joao Pires, Konstantin Bogino and Oksana Yablonskaya, winning the top prizes of the Vladimir Krainev and Chioggia competitions in Ukraine and Italy respectively. He has played with such prestigious musicians as Enrique Mazzola, Marc Coppey, Jakub Jozef Orlinski, Bertrand Chamayou, Lise Berthaud, Tatiana Vassilieva, Marie Chilemme and Bruno Rigutto.