There are only three more classical music concerts and two theater performances left in this year’s 64th edition of the “Ohrid Summer” festival. Tonight at 9:00 PM in the “St. Sophia” church, the French pianist Sophia Vaillant will perform.
Her concert will be part of the traditional French Evening of the festival, held with the support of the French Embassy in the country and the French Institute from Skopje.
Sophia Vaillant is a pianist with a rich background. She began studying piano under Geneviève Ibanez, graduated with top marks in Pierre Pontier’s class at the Lyon Conservatory, and continued to refine her skills at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where she earned her master’s degree in the class of Paul Berkowitz, a student of the legendary Rudolf Serkin. Her studies also took her to the Banff Centre in Canada and Stony Brook University in the USA. She has participated in seminars led by György Sebők, Bernard Greenhouse, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Alexander Volkov, and others. She is the recipient of awards and honors from several international competitions.
The repertoire of this pianist is extensive, encompassing works from the Baroque period to pieces by contemporary composers (with a particular emphasis on the new French composer school). Fascinated by tango music, she has performed for a long time with Juan Cedrón’s orchestra and other groups that play this music. In 2013, she began her doctoral studies at the University of Paris “Saint-Denis,” focusing on the musical interpretation of works for piano and electronics. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and in Paris, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Venezuela, and the USA.
She is also the artistic director of a festival in Northern France, president of the organization “Women in Music,” and teaches at the “Frédéric Chopin” Conservatory in Paris.
