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The French-born American pianist, Evelyne Crochet, was educated in her native country of France, winning First Prize at the Paris Conservatory, where she received a strict theoretical and instrumental training as a student of Yvonne Lefébure, Samuel Rousseau, Pierre Pasquier, Pierre Petit, N. Dufourq and Nadia Boulanger. She went on to study with Edwin Fischer in Switzerland and it was in Bern that Rudolf Serkin heard her play and extended to her a unique invitation to study with him and return to the USA together with his family as a guest. This extraordinary sponsorship changed the course of her life and resulted in her emigration to the USA where she is now a citizen.
Evelyne Crochet performed on the major stages of Europe and the Americas. New York's Carnegie Hall and most New York concert halls, United Nations Assembly Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, London's Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Mexico City's Bellas Artes and Rio de Janeiro's Opera House, are all part of a long list of venues where she has played in solo recitals, and as a soloist with orchestra. The first of her many appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra took place when she was asked by Charles Munch to step in at short notice for Jacques Fevrier as Francis Poulenc's partner in the Boston premiere of the composer's Concerto for Two Pianos.
Solo appearances with major orchestras include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Puerto Rico Festival Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Paris Orchestre National and Orchestre Philharmonique, Symphonic Orchestra of Brazil, Icelandic Orchestra and the orchestras of Bern, Bergen and Cologne, among many others. Charles Munch, Erich Leinsdorf, Steinberg, Rudolf Kempe, Rafael Kubelík, Jean Martinon, Lukas Foss, Hoffman, Lawrence Foster, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Edward Downes, Blanche Honegger Moyse, Sergiu Comissiona, Neuman, Janowski, are only part of the many conductors she collaborated with.
With a vast repertoire spanning three centuries, Evelyne Crochet introduced in numerous venues many 20th century works, exploring the music of Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Messiaen, Crumb, Henri Dutilleux, Takemitsu, Heinz Holliger and Wyttenbach. She performed Alberto Ginastera’s Cello and Piano Sonata at the Puerto Rico Contemporary Music Festival of Bellas Artes with the cellist Aurora Ginastera who held a lifetime exclusivity of the work dedicated to her. She presented at the invitation of Rudolf Serkin all Debussy's piano music at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, a cycle she also played at Rutgers University and SUNY Purchase. She performed J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier at the New England Bach Festival and again, in July of 2006, at the Newport Festival in Rhode Island. Her festival appearances include the Marlboro Festival, Tanglewood's Berkshire Festival, New England Bach Festival, Newport Festival, Contemporary Music Festival of Puerto Rico, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Festival, Adirondack Festival, and for many years, the Mt. Desert Island Maine Festival with the Composers Quartet. She appeared in duo with Philippe Petit, the world-renowned highwire artist and author, in several large-scale gala benefit performances, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and in 2002 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom in a fund raising event for the Arts after 9/11, in which actor Bill Irwin also joined in the act.
Evelyne Crochet made the first recording of the complete piano music of Gabriel Fauré for Vox which was received with high praise in the press ("A labor of love," wrote The New York Times). Other recordings issued on the Philips, Mercury, Turnabout, and Decca labels include a world premiere of works by Erik Satie, J.S. Bach transcriptions, Schubert's solo works, as well as four-hand music with Alfred Brendel. Her very first recording of W.A. Mozart K.310 and L.v. Beethoven Op. 110 in Russia came as a result of being a laureate of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow. Her complete recording of J.S.Bach's Well Tempered Clavier was released in 2006 on the Music & Arts label.
Evelyne Crochet has held artist in residence and faculty positions at Brandeis University, Rutgers University, Boston University and Georgia State University. She also served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston, and as Rudolf Serkin's assistant during his sabbatical year at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
Evelyne Crochet resides in New York City. |
