Friday, November 5, 2010

Afro-European Pianist Justine Verdier (b. 1985) Performs Solo and in 'Duo Pianissimo'

[Justine Verdier and Daniel Diaz, Duo Pianissimo]

Justine Verdier is an Afro-European pianist who performs both as a soloist and as a duo pianist. She and Daniel Diaz comprise Duo Pianissimo. Her website is http://www.justine-verdier.com/, which presents a great deal of information in multiple languages. She received a degree as a concert pianist in 2008 from the Mozarteum University Salzburg.

Justine Verdier, born in 1985, started playing the piano at the age of four and a half. She began her studies at the Institut Musical de Paris under Professor Michel Denis (current Headmaster of Scola Cantorum in Paris). She then continued studying with the Hungarian pianist Gabriella Torma and with the pianist-composer Yves Henry in 1996. In 1999, Justine was successfully admitted to the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris to study in the class of Professor Victoria Melki.

In June 1998, as Justine was interpreting Fantaisie in F Minor by Chopin during a concert at the Polish Institute of Paris, she had the good fortune to count Polish pianist and composer Milosz Magin among her audience. His insight allowed her to delve further into her knowledge and understanding of Chopin’s works. This enriching exchange was tragically cut short by the Professor’s death in 1999.

Justine also shared master-classes with the pianists Jean-Marc Luisada, Dominique Merlet and François-René Duchable. She occasionally received advice from the Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczakwhen he was staying in France (the pianist who played the role of Chopin in Andrzej Zulawski’s film ‘La note Bleue’).”

“In June 2005, she was chosen by Jean-Marc Luisada to take part in the project ‘The Super Piano Lesson’, a master-class devoted to Chopin, organised and broadcasted by the Japanese Television NHK. (October/November 2005) Taking to the stage for the first time at the age of five years old, Justine has since appeared numerous times in public to play as a soloist, with four hands, chamber music and as part of an orchestra. She has also taken part in many official Gala evenings (Red Cross, Rotary Club, Lion Club and Zonta International).

“In 1995, on the day of her 10th birthday, Justine gave her first concert recital during which she interpreted Beethoven, Haydn and the Concerto K449 by Mozart accompanied by soloists of the French National Orchestra. In 1996 and 1997, she twice gave a conference on Haydn, complete with projections and recorded orchestral illustrations and examples that she interpreted herself with the piano.”

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