Born in Paris in 1963, Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua (EFNK) is a French concert pianist dedicated to music from the Classical and Romantic traditions , as well as exploring the repertoire of tomorrow, particularly through the influence of jazz. Immersed from a young age in various currents of the French school thanks to Madeleine de Valmalète , Jacqueline Robin , and Pierre Sancan , he earned a First Prize at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 14, followed by a First Prize in chamber music. He was a finalist in the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition at 17 and a laureate of the Santander Competition. After masterclasses with György Sebök and Enrique Barenboim, he was engaged by the Yokohama Piano Festival and is frequently invited as a soloist by various Japanese symphony orchestras. He met the USSR National Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, and Yuri Bashmet, which led him to perform in the former USSR from the 1990s onward, in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Kyiv. He then formed an unconventional duo with violinist Gilles Apap and recorded a CD of Debussy , Ravel , and Enescu with him , which was praised by the American Records Guide. Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua has performed in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet and Salle Gaveau, at Wigmore Hall in London, at the Miami Piano Festival, at the Herkulessaal in Munich (Gershwin Concerto) , and at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in Saint Petersburg, where he notably performed Berlioz/Liszt's Symphonie Fantastique . Without abandoning his lifelong affinity for Schumann , Chopin, and Debussy , he collaborates on new works by Thierry Lancino , Nicolas Bacri, Philippe Racine , and composers at the crossroads of jazz and contemporary music, such as Christopher Culpo and Dave Liebman . For the Grand Piano /Naxos label, EFNK has recorded two very different styles: virtuoso transcriptions of symphonic works by Stravinsky , Ravel, and Gershwin , and, in a world premiere recording, the Etudes and Jazz-Preludes of the great jazz pianist and composer Martial Solal (a Jazz Magazine "Choc" award winner). Solal has also entrusted him with previously unreleased works, such as his concerto Coexistence.for piano and large orchestra which Ferrand-N'Kaoua performed in Paris with the Orchestre National de France in 2020. Also appreciated as a teacher , he participated in 2021 in a masterclass in the prestigious Villa-museum Rachmaninoff located near Lucerne.

YouTube channel: EFNKpiano