Élisabeth Pion is a Canadian classical pianist based in London.[1] In October 2025, she earned the Gold Laureate prize and Audience Choice Award at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition.
Élisabeth Pion | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 25, 1996 (age 30) |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Label | ATMA Classique |
| Website | www |
She was the pianist with the De Beauvoir Piano Trio for three years and is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Festival Unisson in Montreal. Her albums are released on the ATMA Classique label.
Early life and education
editBorn March 25, 1996[2] in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec,[3] and raised in Otterburn Park, in Montérégie, Pion began playing the piano at age five, studying with pianist Francine Lacroix.[4]
She earned a baccalaureate and Prix avec Grande Distinction at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal,[5] studying with Suzanne Goyette and André Laplante.[6][7] She also studied at the Accademia di Musica with Enrico Pace[8] in Pinerolo, Italy.[9][1]
She then moved to London for advanced training at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied with Ronan O'Hora and earned both the Artist Masters and Artist Diploma with highest honors.[10] She also won the 2021 Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize.[11]
Her other teachers and mentors included Imogen Cooper,[12] Benedetto Lupo, and Ricardo Castro.[3]
In 2018 the CBC named Pion one of its "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30" and La Scena Musicale one of its "15 Rising Stars."[6]
Performance career
editIn 2019 Pion made her BBC Radio 3 broadcast debut and in 2021 her Wigmore Hall solo recital debut.[13] From 2020–2023 she was the pianist for the De Beauvoir Piano Trio.[14]
In 2022–23 she made her U.S. concerto debut with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, performed with the orchestra of the Brott Music Festival, and presented a solo recital at St John's Smith Square (Smith Square Hall) in London.[2] In 2024 she won the Silver Medal at the Blanca Uribe Colombia International Piano Competition.[15] In 2026 Pion made her live "In Tune" debut on BBC Radio 3.[16]
With cellist Agnès Langlois, Pion is co-founder and co-artistic director of the Festival Unisson,[17] a festival inspired by performance artist Marina Abramovic (The Artist Is Present) and the 1:1 Concerts in Germany.[18] Pion teaches Tai Chi workshops to audiences and orchestras.[19]
Recording career
editIn 2023 ATMA Classique released Pion's debut album, Femmes de Légende, with music by French composers, along with music by Thomas Adès and by Pion herself.[13]
Her 2024 ATMA Classique album Amadeus et l’Impératrice: Montgeroult | Mozart with the Arion Orchestre Baroque and Mathieu Lussier, on which she played an 1826 Broadwood fortepiano,[20] was a finalist for the Prix Opus Album of the Year award.[21]
In June 2026 ATMA Classique released Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin and Concertante Works featuring Pion and harpist Valerie Milot with Alain Trudel and the Trois Rivières Symphony Orchestra.
Notable performances
editPrizes and distinctions
edit| Year | Prize or distinction |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Honens International Piano Competition, Gold Laureate and Audience Choice Award (2025)[7] |
| 2024 | Révélations Radio-Canada 2024-25[26] |
| 2024 | Pierre-Mantha Award from the Fondation Père-Lindsay[27] |
| 2024 | Silver Medal, Blanca Uribe Colombia International Piano Competition[15] |
| 2022 | Jeunesses Musicales Choquette-Symcox Prize for Artistic Excellence[13] |
| 2018 | Shean Piano Competition (2018)[28][29] |
Discography
edit- 2026: Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin and Concertante Works with harpist Valerie Milot and Alain Trudel and the Trois Rivières Symphony Orchestra (ATMA Classique)
- 2024: Amadeus et l’Impératrice : Montgeroult | Mozart with the Arion Orchestre Baroque and Mathieu Lussier (ATMA Classique)[21]
- 2023: Femmes de Légende (ATMA Classique)[13]
External links
editReferences
edit- 1 2 Élisabeth Pion wins Gold at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, Gramophone, 27 October 2025, retrieved 9 February 2026
- 1 2 Élisabeth Pion, Concours musical international de Montréal, retrieved 10 February 2026
- 1 2 Chris Wolf (25 October 2025), Canadian Pianist Élisabeth Pion Triumphs at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, Classic107, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Un retour aux sources pour la pianiste Élisabeth Pion, L'Oeil régional, 4 January 2023, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion, The Musicians' Company, retrieved 10 March 2026
- 1 2 Prix Orford Musique 2020 (2020), Élisabeth Pion (pdf) (in French), retrieved 9 February 2026
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - 1 2 Élisabeth Pion wins 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, Classical Music, 25 October 2025, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Our student Élisabeth Pion wins the Honens, Accademia di Musica, retrieved 19 March 2026
- ↑ Pion, Accademia di Musica, retrieved 9 February 2026
- 1 2 Élisabeth Pion Piano Concert, The New School, 16 July 2025, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize, Guild Hall School, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion: Canada, Piano 2021 Scholar, Imogen Cooper Music Trust, retrieved 19 February 2026
- 1 2 3 4 Chris Wolf (13 June 2023), Femmes de Légende: Canadian Pianist Élisabeth Pion unearths piano jewels on debut recording, Classic107, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion (in French), Festival Unisson, retrieved 9 February 2026
- 1 2 Kaitlyn Chan (30 October 2024), Canadian Élisabeth Pion Wins Silver at the Blanca Uribe Colombia International Piano Competition, MyScena, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Pianist Élisabeth Pion performs live, BBC, 27 February 2026, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ Piano 2024, Concours Musical International de Montreal, 2024, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion (in French), orchestremetropolitain.com, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion wins the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, Moto Perpetuo, 26 October 2025, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ Nigel Simeone (1 December 2024). "A quarterly round-up". International Piano.
- 1 2 Chris Wolf (9 February 2026), Les résultats des Prix Opus 2026 (in French), Le Canal Auditif, retrieved 9 February 2026
- ↑ Ian Cochrane (22 January 2024), Emerging artists prove their mettle with the Orchestre Métropolitain, Bachtrack, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ Jean-Frédéric Hénault-Rondeau, Elisabeth Pion at the Classica Festival: musician, musicologist and mediator, Panm360, retrieved 10 March 2026
- ↑ "Guildhall Artists in New York". Carnegie Hall. 18 January 2022.
- ↑ "Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize Winner's Recital" (pdf). Programme du concert. 19 July 2021.
- ↑ Élisabeth Pion, Révélation Radio-Canada 2024-2025, Radio-Canada, 21 May 2024, retrieved 10 February 2026
- ↑ Olivier Dénommée (6 January 2025), Le prix Pierre-Mantha pour la pianiste otterburnoise Élisabeth Pion, L'Oeil Regional, retrieved 10 February 2026
- ↑ Winner of 2018 Shean Piano Competition: Élisabeth Pion
- ↑ Benjamin Goron (3 October 2018), Élisabeth Pion – 2018 Shean Piano Competition Winner, MyScena, retrieved 9 February 2026