French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie is renowned worldwide for his interpretative originality, the fruit of a wide repertoire. The Times found in him a “combination of spontaneity and maturity that only great pianists have”.
In his artistic career Louis Lortie has appeared in all the most prestigious halls, including the Wigmore Hall in London, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Carnegie Hall and the Verdi Conservatory in Milan. He is known throughout the world for his interpretations of Chopin Etudes.
He has collaborated with famous conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Hannu Lintu. He has also taken part in numerous chamber music projects with Augustin Dumay and forms a close-knit duo with the Canadian pianist Hélène Mercier. Recent engagements have included performances with the Bournemouth, Boston, Montreal and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France. Louis Lortie has made over thirty recordings for the Chandos label. He made his debut with the Montreal Symphony at the age of thirteen and, three years later, his first performance with the Toronto Symphony led to a historic tour of China and Japan. In 1984 he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition. From October 2016 until 2021, Louis Lortie was Master in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels
