Over the years and across the world, Pierre Réach has earned a reputation as an exceptional pianist, acclaimed for his interpretations of monumental works such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Liszt’s transcription of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, and Charles-Valentin Alkan’s Sonata Les Quatre Âges de la vie.
He is equally recognized as an inspiring pedagogue, able to transmit—through a unique enthusiasm—both his knowledge and his relentless search for emotional truth in music. For more than twenty years, he has also been an indefatigable creator and organizer of major artistic events.
His First Prize at the Olivier Messiaen International Competition brought him to public attention. He was also a prizewinner at the Pozzoli Competition (Italy), the Maria Canals and Jaén Competitions (Spain), and received a medal at the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Israel. From 1975 to 1982, he studied in London with Maria Curcio and, over several years, received regular guidance from the great masters Arthur Rubinstein, Alexis Weissenberg, and Paul Badura-Skoda.
His extensive repertoire ranges from Bach to Olivier Messiaen, including Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin, with a particularly special place devoted to Beethoven. Performing the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas—works he has explored passionately throughout his life—represents a true artistic culmination. Recently, he recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas, a major milestone in his career and a testament to his profound affinity with this monumental body of work.
Pierre Réach has given recitals and concerto performances throughout Europe, as well as in Japan, the United States, Israel, Russia, China (where he appears regularly), and South Korea. He has performed with orchestras including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National de France, the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, the KBS Symphony Orchestra (Seoul), the Hallé Orchestra (Manchester), the Richmond Symphony Orchestra (Virginia), I Pomeriggi Musicali (Milan), the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears, and the Banda Municipal de Barcelona.
A frequent guest at international festivals, he also appears in chamber music collaborations with distinguished artists such as Gary Hoffman, Pierre Amoyal, Nicolas Dautricourt, Liza Kerob , Yvan Chiffoleau , Olivier Charlier, Philip Bride, Olivier Charlier, Gérard Caussé, Victoria Shereshevskaya, Caroline Casadesus, Vinciane Beranger, Joan Martín-Royo, Christoph Henkel, Gérard Poulet, Sophie Koch, Michel Lethiec, Patrice Fontanarosa, Régis Pasquier, among others.
He has made numerous recordings devoted to works by Alkan, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Olivier Messiaen, Jean Cras, Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, and Mussorgsky. He is widely regarded as one of today’s leading interpreters of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a work with which he maintains a particularly intimate and enduring relationship.
In January 2005, he was appointed Professor Honoris Causa at the Shanghai Conservatory. His masterclasses, given throughout Europe, America, and Asia, are highly acclaimed. He is currently Professor of Piano at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris.
Audiences still remember the extraordinary concert he gave on the terrace of the Pic du Midi Observatory at an altitude of 2,800 meters, on a concert grand piano transported by helicopter and broadcast on TF1. This event marked the creation of the Piano aux Pyrénées Festival, which a few years later became the Piano-Pic Festival in Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées), for which he serves as Artistic Director. He also founded the Printemps Musical de Provins, the Vila-seca Music Festival in Spain, and the Piano à Castelnaudary festival. He is also the Artistic Director of the French Music Festival in Bailu (China).

Pierre Réach has been a Steinway Artist since 1982.

In March 2015, he was appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.

Adagio Artists