Xavier Francois Poizat (Switzerland)

Born in 1989 with Swiss, French and Chinese origins, pianist François-Xavier Poizat graduated from the Geneva and Hamburg Conservatory and from the Juilliard School in New York with the teaching of Alexeï Golovin, Evgeni Koroliov, Nelson Goerner and Matti Raekallio. In his quest for new input and ideas, he pursues further studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under the guidance of Benedetto Lupo. It is Martha Argerich who propelled him on the international stage by inviting him when he was 12 years old to the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, recognizing his “deep lyricism and remarkable virtuosity”. This marked the beginning of a career that has brought him to perform in already 26 countries in Europe, Asia and America, in venues like the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Konzerthaus and Philharmonie in Berlin, the Seoul Art Center, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory or the Carnegie Hall in New York.

His journey is sprinkled with collaborations with big orchestras such as the Suisse Romande and Svizzera Italiana Orchestra, the National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Lithuanian and Armenian National Chamber Orchestras, the Zürich Chamber Orchestra and the Poznan Philharmonic, among others. He has performed under the baton of Philippe Béran, Thierry Fischer, Neeme Järvi, Lukasc Borowicz, Bernard Labadie or Frédéric Chaslin, in prestigious festivals (the Roque d’Anthéron in France, the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, the Schubertiade in Porrentruy or the Septembre Musical in Montreux in Switzerland).

He has won prizes in significant competitions : Grand Prix at the 2004 International Competition for the Youth in Kassel, Germany, the 2007 Young Soloist Prize of the Radios Francophones Publiques, 1st Prize at the 2009 International Competition for the Youth of Oldenburg and at the 2009 Elise Meyer Competition in Hambourg in Germany, the Jury Special Prize at the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the 2012 Soloist Prize of the Migros Cultural Percentage in Zürich, before being a finalist at the 2013 Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland.

Beside his principal activity as a performer, he is currently the director of the International Puplinge Classique Festival in Geneva, a position he has held for the past 10 years, and has recorded 4 CDs with the Naxos, Ars Produktion and Piano Classics labels. Laureate of the Leenaards and Migros scolarships, and regularly recharges himself by playing jazz and studying martial arts, which he has done for 18 years.