Thierry Escaich

Thierry Escaich is a composer, organist, improvising keyboardist, and concert performer in whose appearances the various aspects of his work intersect. He is also an important educator. Escaich was born in Nogent-sur-Marne, in the Paris suburbs, on May 8, 1965. His education has stressed all the facets of his work from the beginning; he studied organ, composition, and improvisation at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning eight First Prizes. In 1992, he joined the school's faculty and remained there as of the early 2020s. Escaich was appointed co-organist titulaire of the St.-Étienne-du-Mont church in Paris in 1996, succeeding Maurice Duruflé; he also remains in that position. His interest in improvisation has led him to take up the rare art of silent film accompaniment, and he has appeared at showings of such films as The Phantom of the Opera and Metropolis. Escaich tours internationally as a performer, with his concerts often mixing traditional repertory, his own compositions, and improvisation. With well over 100 compositions to his credit, Escaich is perhaps best known as a composer. His music is individual but has roots in the works of Ravel, Messiaen, and Dutilleux, as well as sometimes in popular music; it is marked by a strongly rhythmic profile. He has written for organ and piano, but his works are in a large variety of media, including orchestral. He has written two symphonies (the second, from 2015, is sometimes known as Concerto for orchestra), concertos for soprano saxophone, organ, trumpet, and other instruments, many chamber works, vocal and choral music, an oratorio (The Last Gospel), and an opera (Claude), based on Victor Hugo's true crime story Claude Gueux. Escaich's works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, and pianist Christoph Eschenbach, among many other individuals and ensembles. His recital schedule in the early 2020s has featured such venues as the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, the Maison de la Radio in Paris, and the Konzerthaus in Dortmund, Germany. Escaich served as artist-in-residence at the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2020-2021 season.
© James Manheim /TiVo