Cédric Tiberghien

Pianist Cédric Tiberghien is equally recognized as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber player, and he is only slightly less well known as an accompanist. In the 2010s, he has become especially familiar in a prolific partnership with violinist Alina Ibragimova.
Tiberghien was born in France on May 5, 1975. He grew up in the town of Noyon and began taking piano lessons there at age five with Michèle Perrier. Tiberghien was sent to Paris at ten and matriculated at the Paris Conservatory at 14, working with Gérard Frémy. At 17, he was awarded the Conservatory’s coveted Premier Prix, and that year, after giving a concert at Ourskamp Abbey, he decided on a career as a pianist. Tiberghien amassed an impressive string of competition victories in the mid-1990s, culminating in one at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition in Paris (1998). Another major boost to his career was a designation as a BBC New Generation Artist with a term running from 2005 to 2007. Since then, Tiberghien has been a regular presence on international orchestral stages, thanks to his unusually large repertory of 60 concertos. He has played with many of the world’s top orchestras, with no particular preponderance of them in France; appearances in the 2010s have included those with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony. He has given solo recitals in world capitals, including New York, London, and Paris, focusing on core piano repertory from Mozart to the first part of the 20th century. Tiberghien has been quite active in the 2010s as a chamber musician, working in duets with Ibragimova, violist Antoine Tamestit, and cellist Pieter Wispelwey. He has also accompanied singers, including soprano Sophie Karthäuser and baritone Stéphane Degout. Tiberghien has recorded for the Harmonia Mundi, Wigmore Live, and Hyperion labels, issuing an album of violin sonatas by Franck and Louis Vierne with Ibragimova on the latter imprint in 2019. ~ James Manheim