In a programme of Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, Abel Decaux: Clairs de lune, Henri Duparc: Aux étoiles, Gustave Samazeuilh: Le chant de la mer, Mel Bonis: Phoebé, Op. 30, Louis Aubert: Sillages Op. 27 and Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata No.1 in D minor Op. 28
Not yet forty, acclaimed pianist Marouan Benabdallah is indisputably the leading representative of his native Morocco on the international concert stage. With a musical heritage deeply rooted in the Hungarian tradition, Marouan Benabdallah received his formal training at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary.
He first attracted international attention in 2003, following his triumphs at the Hungarian Radio Piano Competition and the Andorra Grand Prize. More recently, he was a prizewinner at the Hilton Head Piano Competition (US) and the Arthur Rubinstein Master Competition where the local media proclaimed his playing “miraculous” (Maariv).
Marouan Benabdallah has been praised for his “stunning natural virtuosity” (Nice-Matin), “delicate stylishness” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), “compelling sense of momentum” (Washington Post) and “resourceful pianism, lyrical instincts and thoughtfulness” (New York Times). He has been invited as guest soloist by numerous orchestras in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and has collaborated with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Zoltan Kocsis, Iván Fischer, Renato Palumbo, Tan Lihua and others.
He has performed on stages such as the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Music Academy and the Palace of Arts in Budapest, the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the Oriental Art Centre in Shanghai, the TeatroCommunale di Bologna, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Maison Symphonique in Montreal, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Bombay, the Cairo Opera House, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
In 2014, he initiated the Arabæsque Music Project researching and presenting classical composers from the Arab world on the international concert stage.
