Mathilde Handelsman

Praised for "her calm technical control, her immediate sense of balance", as well as for "extraordinary vigour, flawless musicality" (Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, april 2013), the French and American pianist Mathilde Handelsman is at the threshold of a promising career.

Mathilde was born in Paris, in 1990, in a family of artists and musicans. She started the piano with her mother before meeting Jean Martin, a pupil of Yves Nat, with whom she studied for many years and who contributed enormously to her musical development. She was also accepted to the Maîtrise de Paris (choir of the Conservatory of Paris-CRR), which lead her to perform at an early age in many prestigious venues, including two operas at Bastille and a concert under the direction of Seiji Osawa. During that time, Mathilde also won several prizes at international piano competitions in France, such as Concours Jeunes Artistes d'Alès, Claude Kahn, UFAM, Opus Yvelines...

After pre-college studies in piano at the Conservatory of Paris-CRR, with Pierre Réach, Mathilde was admitted to the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg, where she received a Bachelor's dual-degree in Performance and Musicology, and where she is currently pursuing a Master's in Performance, with Laurent Cabasso. She has also participated in many masterclasses, among which with Boris Berman, Jacques Rouvier, Eric Heidsieck, Jean-Philippe Collard, ... Furthermore, she has just completed a two-year course in Pedagogy, receiving the "Diplôme d'Etat", (french national teaching diploma).

Passionate about literature and composition, Mathilde has written several pieces that were performed in concerts and competitions in Paris. She studied harmony and composition at the conservatory. She has also thoroughly studied theater for two years at the Sorbonne and, in 2007, she participated in Shakespeare masterclasses in New York. This strong commitment for artistic creation, writing and the performing arts, shapes her career path, and she has had opportunities to combine these interests already, performing as a pianist in theater plays, etc.
Since 2010, Mathilde has been enjoying working as a translator for texts by composers, such as Benoît Menut, François Meïmoun, Elisabeth Valletti...

Mathilde Handelsman has performed in Europe and the USA. She appeared as a soloist with orchestra at the Cité de la Musique in Strasbourg and has been invited to perform in festivals such as the Gijon International piano festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Wissembourg International Music festival, Rencontres Musicales du Marais in Paris.