Lucas Debargue

A French pianist who came to prominence at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2015, Lucas Debargue has been pursuing a solo career ever since. Born in Paris on October 23, 1990, he entered the Compiègne Conservatoire at the age of 11 and by the age of 15, he was more interested in scientific and literary studies. He became interested in classical music and resumed piano lessons when he was 17. After obtaining his first diploma in Beauvais, in 2011 he began taking lessons at the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory and at the École normale de musique Alfred Cortot in Paris with Rena Cherechevskaïa, who mentored him and prepared him for international competitions until 2015. In the meantime, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, where his teacher was Jean-François Heisser. In 2014, he won first prize at the Adilia Alieva Competition in Gaillard before winning fourth prize and the Special Critics’ Prize the following year at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Lucas Debargue was then awarded the Prix Cortot in 2016. He then embarked on an international career as a soloist, performing throughout Europe, then in Japan and the United States. Signed by the Sony Classical label, he recorded the recitals Scarlatti - Chopin - Liszt - Ravel (2016), Bach - Beethoven - Medtener (2016), Schubert - Szymanowski (2017) and Scarlatti: 52 Sonatas (2019). A permanent guest of Gidon Kremer's ensemble Kremerata Baltica, the pianist helped to discover the music of Polish composer Miłosz Magin on the album Żal - The Music of Miłosz Magin (2021). Lucas Debargue then devoted himself to the complete works for solo piano by Gabriel Fauré in Fauré: Complete Music for Piano Solo, played on a 102-key Paulello piano. The album was released as a four CD set in 2024 and reached number 6 in France.