Claire Désert touches her public by the grace, depth and humility of her interpretations.
She is a frequent guest at such leading French festivals as La Roque-d’Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins, Lille Piano Festival and Festival of Radio France Montpellier, and is also present on the international scene, with appearances at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Kennedy Center in New York, and in Japan, Brazil, Germany, etc. She appears as a soloist with major symphonic formations including the Parisian orchestras, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and orchestras in Strasbourg, Toulouse, Prague, Quebec and Japan.
At the age of fourteen she entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she was awarded the premier prix in piano by unanimous decision of the jury in the class of Vensislav Yankoff and a premier prix in chamber music in the class of Jean Hubeau. After being admitted to the postgraduate course in these two disciplines (Roland Pidoux’s chamber music class), she came to the attention of the pianist and pedagogue Evgeny Malinin, who invited her to pursue her studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.
Claire Désert is a peerless chamber musician. Her partners of choice include Emmanuel Strosser, Anne Gastinel, Gary Hoffman, Philippe Graffin, Régis Pasquier, the Sine Nomine Quartet and the Moraguès Wind Quintet.
Her extensive discography features notably the Scriabin and Dvořák Concertos with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, which was awarded a Victoire de la Musique in 1997, and two solo discs for Mirare: a Schumann programme including the Davidsbündlertänze and a recital entitled ‘Abendmusik’ with works by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. For the same label, she has also recorded two CDs of piano duets with Emmanuel Strosser, Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and a programme of music by Fauré, Bizet, Debussy and Ravel.
