Described by the press as "a sumptuous pianist" (Philippe Cassard, France-Musique), "with a clear and dense sound" (Alain Lompech, Diapason), "a brilliant pianist, very virtuoso and master of his own". (Frederic Lodéon, France-Musique), "with prodigious means" (Classica), Aurélien Pontier is a leading figure of the young generation of French pianists.
Having recorded for Warner Classics, Brilliant Classic and NoMad Music, his 2019 Ilona Records release devoted to Liszt's Paraphrases d'Opérases d'Opéras received an enthusiastic reception from the press and was notably awarded a Choc from Classica magazine, which described his playing as that of "Mephisto himself", while Artallina described him as a pianist with "the fingers of the Good Lord, who signs a decidedly admirable album that puts him in the big league".
He took part in the prestigious Warner Classics release of Beethoven's complete works, released to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, by recording his early works.
In 2020, his album "Piano 3D Collection", also released by Warner Classics, was conceived in partnership with Amazon Music.
Both soloist and sought-after chamber music partner, he has performed the entire repertoire since his debut at the Paris Opera at the age of 9.
His recent engagements have seen him play in France, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Thailand.
He shares the stage with prestigious conductors and musicians such as Enrique Mazzola, Anastasia Kobekina,Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Coppey, David Grimal, Jakub Jozef Orlinski, Bruno Rigutto, the Aviv Quartet, Dana Ciocarlie, Marina Chiche, Liana Gourdjia, Lise Berthaud, Marie Chilemme, Alexandre Pascal, Pierre Génisson, Raquel Camarinha, Catherine Trottmann, Roger Tapping, François Le Roux, Olivia Gay, Francois Salque as well as Patrick Poivre d'Arvor in concert readings.
Born into a family of musicians, Aurélien Pontier began playing the piano with the Spanish pianist Martha Zabaleta. Noticed very early on by Emmanuel Krivine, the latter hired him to play Chopin's 1st concerto at the age of 12 with the Orchestre National de Lyon. At the age of 13, he immediately entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Jean-Francois Heisser and Rena Cherechevskaia, the youngest student at this institution. He came out of it with a first prize in piano and chamber music.
He then perfected his skills with great masters such as Murray Perahia, Maria Joao Pires, Konstantin Bogino, Oksana Yablonskaya. He unanimously wins the first prizes in the Vladimir Krainev (Kiev, Ukraine) and Chioggia (Italy) competitions.
Aurélien Pontier has notably performed at the Tchaikovsky Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Kiev Philharmonic, the Opéra Garnier, the Louvre Auditorium, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the Invalides, as well as in numerous festivals around the world.
He regularly performs live on the radio for Radio-Classique and France-Musique, and has been invited to give the closing concert of the Montpellier-Radio-France festival.
