Pierre Amoyal

Pierre Amoyal, born in Paris in 1949, is one of the French violinists of his generation with a sustained international career. He trained with Rolland Charmey and at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won a first prize at the age of twelve.

In the 1960s he won the Ginette Neveu Prize (1963) and the Paganini Competition in Genoa (1964). That same year, on Heifetz's recommendation, he moved to the United States to study with him from 1966 to 1971, a period during which he won the Enescu Prize (1970). He made his Paris debut in 1971 with Berg's Violin Concerto alongside the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Solti, and later appeared at Wigmore Hall (1978) and Carnegie Hall (1985).

He has premiered works by contemporary composers, including Hoddinott's Violin Sonata No. 4 (1976) and René Koering's Violin Concerto 'Allegria Kochanski' (1992). His recordings of the Brahms and Fauré sonatas with Pascal Rogé received very favourable critical acclaim.

He taught at the Paris Conservatoire between 1977 and 1986 and, from 1987, has taught at the Lausanne Conservatoire. In 1991 he founded the Lausanne Summer Academy with Alexis Weissenberg, of which he is artistic director. His style reflects the legacy of Auer through Heifetz, and he plays the 'Kochanski' Stradivarius of 1717.