Anne de Fornel

Pianist Anne de Fornel appears on several contemporary music recordings and is active as a musicologist specializing in contemporary music. She is also an educator who has taught at the American School of Paris, among other institutions. Billing herself as Franco-American, de Fornel has translated booklet notes between French and English. She was born in Paris in 1984. In 2006, de Fornel graduated from the Regional Conservatory of Paris (CRR), where she studied with Olivier Gardon. She went on the next year for a master's degree in musicology at the University of Paris - Sorbonne and also earned a master's in piano at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon (CNSMD), studying with Florent Boffard and Svetlana Eganian. In 2012, she earned a PhD in musicology at Sorbonne. As a pianist, de Fornel won various prizes and was named a Gold Talent by the International Rotary Club. Many of de Fornel's appearances as a pianist have been at conference concerts (Meiji University in Tokyo, the IRCAM in Paris, and the University of Burgundy) and with chamber music groups. In 2010, she founded Ensemble Mesostics and continues to serve as its artistic director. In 2019, de Fornel issued the book John Cage, published by Éditions Fayard; it is regarded as a major study of that composer. She is committed to contemporary music, and as a member of Trio Steuermann, she participated in the premiere of the Klaviertrio of Johannes Boris Borowski. She has premiered several other works with various ensembles. As a solo pianist, de Fornel has appeared at various Paris venues, as well as at the Auditori in Barcelona, the Kulturhaus in Baden-Baden, and festivals across France and Europe. In 2020, de Fornel and pianist Jay Gottlieb released the album Cage Meets Satie on the Paraty label. The following year, de Fornel played the Piano Concerto No. 2 of Pierre Wissmer with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic, and she was named Director of Research at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon. In 2023, she backed mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot on the album Les heures claires, featuring the complete songs of Lili and Nadia Boulanger.
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