French pianist born in Paris, of Russian descent by his mother, Marc LAFORET made his first appearance at the age of 8 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. He graduated from the Conservatoire de Boulogne-Billancourt in the class of Jacqueline Landowski and was awarded unanimously first prize at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Pierre Sancan, which was followed by a master class. Marc LAFORET enjoyed the great privilege of working with Maestro Arthur Rubinstein who gave him his wormest encouragements. He received the Gold Medal of "Cziffra Foundation", and is also a laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.
New York 1985: Marc LAFORET wins the: "Young Concert Artists International Auditions"
Warsaw 1985: Marc LAFORET wins the Silver Medal of the XIth International Frederic Chopin competition in Warsaw, as well as the prize of Mazurkas, Prize of the public, Prize of the Polish Radio-Television.
Ever since, Marc LAFORET'S career's became international and he is regularly invited by orchestras among which: Orchestre de Paris, la Scala di Milano, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, La Haye, Zurich, Suisse Romande, Tokyo Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonia, Leipzig, Saint-Petersburg, Orchestre National de France, Symphonic Euskadi, Philharmonique de Radio-France, Monte-Carlo, Prague, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, etc. Conducted by Daniel Barenboïm, Valery Gergiev, Georges Prêtre, Klaus-Peter Flor, Rudolf Barshaï, Vassili Sinaïski, Armin Jordan, Serge Baudo, Alain Lombard, Kasimierz Kord, Jan Latham-Koenig, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Antoni Wit, Eliahu Inbal ...
Meanwhile, he gives recitals in Paris, New York, Washington, Saint Petersburg, Moscow,Tokyo,Osaka , Shangaï, Munich, Milan, Rome,Vienna, London ,Amsterdam, Warsaw, Stockholm, Berlin, etc.
In 1995 the "Del Duca Foundation" associated to the "Académie des Beaux-Arts" awarded Marc LAFORET the first Grand Prize for Musical Interpretation.
1997 celebrates the musical collaboration of Marc LAFORET with the violinist Vladimir SPIVAKOV. Their duo violin/piano has been very successful since.
China opens its doors to Marc LAFORET who played as soloist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, who invited him later on as Soloist of their first European Tour.
Marc LAFORET 's poetical interpretation comes to light through his recordings, among which the two Chopin Concerti with the "London Philharmonia" conducted by Maestro Rudolf Barshaï (EMI), the 24 Chopin Preludes and Sonata N°3 (Berlin Classics).
A CD of the complete set of Chopin Waltzes (Arion) received the most enthusiastic press releases.
Marc LAFORET recorded a CD and DVD dedicated to Frédéric Chopin in which he performed the two Concerti with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Kazimierz Kord ("Maxell", available in Japan).
Known as an outstanding specialist of Frédéric Chopin he was privileged to play in the composer's house, place Vendôme in Paris on October 17th 1999, during the very night of the composer's 150th death anniversary.
Later on, along with Vladimir ASHKENAZY and Murray PERAHIA he gave Master-Classes in Berlin.
Marc LAFORET recorded "Live" in Tokyo, Mozart Concertos N° 21 K.467 and N° 23 K.488, with Nippon Symphony Orchestra (available in Japan)
He was invited by Maestro Vladimir ASHKENAZY to play RAVEL Concerto in G, with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Since July 2003, Marc LAFORET is the founder and Artistic Director of the Music Festival "Les Grands Crus Musicaux", which takes place every July, in prestigious castles around Bordeaux. France
Marc LAFORET was recently invited for a China Tour by the "Berliner Symphony Orchestra", conducted by Maestro Eliahu Inbal, this tour was followed by concerts in Berlin at the famous "Konzerthaus" .
Mr. LAFORET takes great pleasure to play chamber music with outstanding international Violinists.
His repertoire allows him to vary his programs from Bach to Rachmaninov, going from Mozart, Scarlatti , Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Scriabine, Stravinsky, Liszt, Jànacek, Debussy, Ravel, etc...
(photo: Isabelle de Rouville)