Jonathan Fournel

Jonathan Fournel was revealed with brilliance to the top international scene in the spring 2021 as he won the much-coveted International Queen Elisabeth competition Grand Prix-Queen Mathilde Prize at 27. In addition, Jonathan won the Musiq3 Audience prize and the Canvas-Klara prize. «A natural, musical and poetic playing in Mozart’s 18th concerto performed with majestic purity and lyricism as well as Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a theme by Haendel led with intensity and an unquestionable sense of story-telling. » Marie-Aude Roux writes in Le Monde. A few years earlier, Jonathan had won First Prizes at the Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow and the International Viotti competition in Vercelli, both at the age of 20.

What strikes most in Fournel’s playing besides his stunning technique and extraordinary spectrum of colours is this balanced mix of exquisite refinement and wild instinct, his natural lyricism and the bright clarity of his interpretations shining light on details with a very mature understanding of the work.

He is the guest of such venues and festivals as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Vienna, Kioi Hall Tokyo, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hannover’s Funkhaus, Rheingau Musik Festival, Verbier Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Radio France Auditorium, La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Piano aux Jacobins Festival, the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall, Bozar Brussels, Flagey, de Bijloke Gent, Louisiana Museum in Denmark, Kumho Art Hall Seoul, Tongyeong Concert Hall, Sala Saõ Paulo, Warsaw Philhamoniec Hall, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Sala Verdi Milan Paris’ Louis Vuitton Foundation.

Jonathan is playing under the baton of conductors such as Stéphane Denève, Jonathon Heyward, Thomas Dausgaard, Peter Oundjian, Lio Kuokman, Howard Griffiths, Alexandre Bloch, Gabor Kali, Daniel Raiskin, Hugh Wolff, Fan Tao, Pascal Rophé, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, with such orchestras as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Brussels Philharmonic, European Union Youth Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, NordWest Deutsche Philharmonie, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, NOSPR Katowice, Slovak Philharmonic, Macao Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Ile de France, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Croatian Radio and Television Orchestra.

Fournel started studying thepiano at 7 in his hometown of Sarreguemines in the East of France before joining the Strasbourg Conservatoire. At 12, Jonathan was admitted to the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule in Germany in Prof. Robert Leonardy and Jean Micault’s studios. He was then admitted to the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique at 16 working with Brigitte Engerer, Bruno Rigutto, Claire Désert and Michel Dalberto and graduating with honors 5 years later. In September 2016, he joined Louis Lortie and Avo Kouyoumdjian’s studios at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth Brussels for another 5 years.

Chamber music has also always been an important part of his music-making, performing with such musicians as Gautier Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Simone Lamsma, Vassilena Serafimova, Lorenzo Gatto, Victor Julien-Laferrière.

Fournel signed to the multi Gramophone prize winning label Alpha. A Brahms album was released in October 2021 receiving rave reviews from major media internationally. In France, the album was awarded the much coveted « Diapason Découverte » award and Telerama’s ffff . A Mozart album fetauring concertos 18 and 21 with the Mozarteum Orchester and Howard Griffiths is released in February 2024 to great critical acclaim. This album is part of the New Generation Mozart Soloists collection sponsored by the Orpheum Stiftung with the complete Mozart concertos featuring several soloists. Jonathan’s second solo album on Alpha classics will be released late August 2024. It will be dedicated to Chopin and Szymanowski.