Jean Muller
Hailed as a „major talent“ by Gramophone, Jean Muller has shown exceptional musical talent since his earliest childhood. At age seven, he assembled his first Chopin Etude and has been performing on stage ever since. Following his initial training at the Conservatoire of Luxembourg in Marie-José Hengesch’s class, he was exposed to varied pianistic schools in Brussels, Munich, Paris and Riga under the guidance of, among others, Teofils Bikis, Eugen Indjic, Evgeny Moguilevsky, Gerhard Oppitz and Michael Schäfer. Having received further advice by distinguished artists Anne Queffélec, Leon Fleisher, Janos Starker and Fou T’song to quote but a few, Jean Muller became a master craftsmen who combines “savage technical voltage” (Gramophone) with a capacity for bold and interpretive risk. He thus achieved the rare stacked-deck of every pianist’s dreamed triple-threat ability: “Everything is there: fingers, head and heart” (Jean-Claude Pennetier).
More than a dozen first prizes at international piano competitions stand witness to the extraordinary impact of Jean Muller’s interpretations. At age 19, Muller became Lauréat of the prestigious “Tribune internationale des Jeunes Interprètes”, hosted by the European Broadcast Union in collaboration with the UNESCO, thus labelling him one of the most promising artists of his generation. In 2004, Muller won the “Concours Poulenc” in France by unanimous vote of the jury, collecting all available prizes.
Jean Muller performed the complete cycles of Beethoven’s and Mozart’s piano sonatas in concert. His discography won numerous awards, such as the Gramophone Critic’s Choice, International Piano Choice, Stern des Monats Fono Forum, DeutschlandRadio Kultur CD der Woche, Pizzicato Excellentia, etc. Jean Muller’s recordings have been in the final round of the ICMA and have been nominated several times for the Opus Klassik in Germany.
Appearing on the world’s most prestigious stages (Megaron Athens, NCPA Beijing, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Cadogan Hall London, Kings Place London, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Culture and Congress Centre Luzern, Arsenal Metz, Philharmonie München, Carnegie Hall New York, Salle Cortot Paris, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Konzerthaus Wien, Musikverein Wien, etc.), he is also regularly invited to international festivals (De klengen Maarnicher Festival, Dias de Musica Lissabon, Dublin International Piano Festival, Festival 1001 Notes, Festival de Saintes, Festival Paris Music, Festival International Echternach, Kotor Art, Mosel Musikfestival, Münsterland Festival, Piano Texas...). He performs extensively with orchestras such as the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Heidelberger Sinfoniker, the Münchner Symphoniker, the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Solistes Européens Luxembourg, the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock etc., under the conducting of chefs such as Pierre Cao, Frédéric Chaslin, Thomas Fey, Jack-Martin Händler, Christoph König, Florian Krumpöck, Zubin Mehta, Ludovic Morlot, Vasily Petrenko, Markus Poschner, Bramwell Tovey...
He receives outstanding reviews from the industry’s leading media (BBC Music Magazine, Classica, Concertclassic, Diapason, Fanfare, Fono Forum, Gramophone, International Piano, Pizzicato, ResMusica, Stereoplay etc.) and has been a featured cover artist for International Piano Magazine. His recordings are regularly broadcasted around the globe, and he has on several occasions had the opportunity to perform live on the famous programme InTune on BBC Radio 3.
He has brought the complete set of Mozart's piano sonatas to international stages like the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in 2016 and the Salle Cortot in Paris in 2018/2019. During the Covid19-crisis Jean Muller launched the #beethoven20>covid19 project, to celebrate the 250th birthday of Beethoven on the Internet. Since 2010 Jean Muller is professor for piano at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg and since 2016 a Steinway Artist.
