
Biography
Franco-American concert pianist and musicologist Anne de Fornel is a graduate of the University of Paris-Sorbonne – Paris IV (Ph.D. in Music and Musicology), the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon where she studied with Florent Boffard (Master’s Degree in piano), and HEC Paris (Specialized Master’s Degree in “Media, Art and Creation”). In September 2021, she was appointed Director of Research at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon.
In 2019 she published the book John Cage with Fayard Editions, critically acclaimed as a “major work” (Diapason) and “a marvelous read throughout” (Diacritik). She has been invited to give conference-concerts at Meiji University (Tokyo), IRCAM, CNSM of Paris, Parsons Paris, University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), University of Burgundy, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Lyon). Designated program writer and interviewer for the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, she is an associate researcher at the Center of Research for Arts and Language (UMR 8566 EHESS/CNRS).
With Lucile Richardot et Stéphane Degout, Anne de Fornel will record in 2022 the complete melodies of Nadia et Lili Boulanger for the label Harmonia Mundi. In 2020, Paraty (PIAS distribution) released her album Cage Meets Satie: Works for Two Pianos recorded with the pianist Jay Gottlieb which was awarded five stars by Classica magazine. Her previous albums have received excellent reviews: the CD/DVD Tramages (Hortus label) with the Ensemble Mesostics as the soloist for two contemporary works–Trame IV by Martin Matalon and Interstices by Philippe Hurel–was awarded five diapasons by Diapason and four stars by Classica; Vers la Vie Nouvelle (part of the prestigious collection Musicians and the First World War) released by Hortus and Crossing the Line, recorded with the Trio Empreinte for Klarthe, were both “France Musique Choices” and are regularly broadcast by different radio stations.
Laureate of a number of national and international piano competitions, she was named “Gold Talent” by the International Rotary Club. Throughout her studies, she has received valuable advice from renowned pianists such as Prisca Benoît, Gabriel Chodos, Maria Clodes Jaguaribe, Arnaldo Cohen, Klaus Hellwig, Zhu Xiao-Mei, Emmanuel Mercier, Dominique Merlet, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jacques Rouvier and Françoise Thinat. Her passion for contemporary music has led her to premiere several works: with the Trio Steuermann, Klaviertrio by Johannes Boris Borowski; with pianist Guy Livingston, Chabrieriana by William Bolcom; with the Trio Empreinte, Crossing the Line by Graciane Finzi and Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea by Robert Lemay; and as a soloist, Moth by Andrea Agostini, 24 Haïku by Jean-Yves Bosseur, Ucelli di Pace by Fabrice Grégorutti and Pétales de rêve dans le paravent du vieux moine by Henri Pousseur (French premiere). She appears in the documentary Pierre Wissmer, a Portrait that she co-wrote with the director Éric Darmon (Mémoire Magnétique). Eager to transmit her knowledge, she taught piano and coordinated from 2017 to 2021 the keyboard department at the Municipal Conservatory of the 19th district in Paris and at the American School of Paris.
Anne de Fornel performs in France and abroad, giving recitals throughout Europe: in Paris at the Petit Palais, George C. Marshall Center-Hôtel de Talleyrand, Salon France-Amériques, Palais Brongniart, Hôtel des Invalides-Musée de l’armée, Maison Heinrich Heine, at the Auditori in Barcelona, the Kulturhaus in Baden-Baden, as well as in prestigious festivals (Lille Piano(s) Festival, Les Estivales d’Artenetra and Musicancy in France ; TransArt-Festival of Contemporary Culture in Italy, Festival Klangspuren in Austria and Lake District Summer Music, Saddleworth Festival of the Arts and Uppermill Summer Festival in England). In April 2021, she has been invited to play the Concerto n° 2 by Pierre Wissmer with the Symphonic Orchestra Karlovy Vary.