INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed French Pianist Simon Ghraichy will perform for the first time in Namibia on Tuesday, 20 February as part of his African tour which will also take him to Angola and Kenya.
With a Mexican and Lebanese background, Simon Ghraichy is renowned for his unique personal style defined by rich, diverse cultural influences. He is appreciated by peers for his irreproachable virtuosity and remarkable artistic taste, as well as by less experienced listeners for his uninhibited personality and charisma.
Prestigious venues such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris and the Carnegie Hall in New York have witnessed a dramatic drop in their audiences’ average age when Ghraichy’s concerts were staged. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras, and in chamber music and solo recitals in music halls over five continents.
After growing up in Lebanon, Mexico and Caanada, Ghraichy went to Paris to pursue musical studies, ending up at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt when he was 16. After that, he was admited to the Conservatoire de Paris in 2004 and later to the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki in 2008. He studied with Michel Beroff, Daria Hovora and Tuija Hakkila. He also participated in masterclasses with famous pianists such as Cyprien Katsaris, Jean-Philippe Collard, Gergely Bogányi and Jerome Lowenthal.
He received numerous international prizes as a student from the Banco do Brasil (BNDES) International Piano competition in Rio de Janeiro, the Manuel Ponce competition in Mexico and the Georges Cziffra Foundation’s prize in France.
Ghraichy’s public performance in Windhoek will take place on Tuesday, 20 February at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) at 20h00. The pianist will also be giving a masterclass to Namibian pianists.
Tickets will be on sale through Computicket and at the NTN. For more information, visit fncc.org.na.
