FRENCH-AMERICAN PIANO SOCIETY
in partnership with
THE EMBASSY OF FRANCE IN WASHIGTON D.C.
LA MAISON FRANCAISE
presents
Jean-Baptiste Doulcet, Piano
Performing on the LVMH Steinway Pian
“Romantic Faces: from Schumann to Scandinavia”
THURSDAY, MARCH 25 2026 at 7:30PM
LA MAISON FRANCAISE
EMBASSY OF FRANCE, WASHINGTON DC
INTRODUCTION
by Matthieu Cognet, Artistic Director
This program invites the listener to follow musical transformation across form, character, and invention.
It opens with Edvard Grieg’s Ballade in G minor, Op. 24, a monumental set of variations on a Norwegian folk melody. Through increasingly complex transformations, Grieg moves from stark simplicity to dramatic intensity, creating a work that is both structurally rigorous and deeply introspective.
Robert Schumann’s Carnaval de Vienne offers a striking contrast. Composed as a series of vivid musical scenes, the work reflects the festive spirit and elegance of Vienna, while retaining Schumann’s characteristic shifts of mood—personified as the infamous Florestan and Eusebius—along with fantasy and poetic irony. Its episodic form and rhythmic vitality evoke a musical masquerade, rich in color and personality.
The program concludes with improvisations by Jean-Baptiste Doulcet on themes chosen by the audience. In this final section, the traditional roles of composer and performer converge in real time: musical ideas suggested by the audience become the foundation for spontaneous development at the piano. Each improvisation is created in the moment, shaped by classical forms, harmonic language, and imagination, resulting in a performance that is unique to this evening and cannot be repeated.
Born in 1992, the versatile French pianist, Jean-Baptiste Doulcet is also an accomplished improviser and composer.
In 2024, Jean-Baptiste Doulcet is invited by Klaus Mäkelä to perform Stravinsky’s Petrouchka (1947 version with piano solo) with the Orchestre de Paris at the Paris Philharmonie, but also for the BBC PROMS and the Granada Festival, all under the baton of K. Mäkelä . He has also been invited to play recitals and concertos at La Folle Journée in both Nantes and Tokyo, in Paris (Philharmonie, Salle Cortot, Les Invalides, Salle Gareau, Salle Pleyel), Festival de Nohant and ‘Les Etoiles du Classique’, as well as part of festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron, Pianoscope, Lisztomanias, Piano en Valois, Pianopolis and Piano aux Jacobins. Abroad, he regularly appears in Denmark (Aarhus Kammermusik Festival and Copenhagen Summer Music festival, Oremandsgaard), Sweden (Glafsfjordens Festival), Germany (Beethoven House), Finland, Romania, Morocco, Canada or USA (in California with the Fresno Orchestra, and soon for solo recitals in New York and Washington) to name but a few.
Having being awarded both Fourth Prize and the Audience Award at the Marguerite Long Competition, chaired by Martha Argerich, followed by the Modern Times Award at the Clara Haskil Piano Competition, both in 2019, the French pianist is also the recipient of the Second Prize of the 8th Nordic piano competition and laureate of the Charles Oulmont Foundation. One of the Rising Stars of the young generation of French pianists according to the Classica Magazine, he released his first CD in 2017 with a Beethoven/ Schumann programme, which was recorded live together with some improvisations (Les Spiriades label). In 2022, his new album, featuring works by Schumann, Liszt and one of his own compositions, was released under the title « Un Monde Fantastique » for the Mirare label, followed in 2024 by a Nordic album named « Søleils Blancs » , including piano works from Grieg, Sibelius and Carl Nielsen, and praised by the critics. His fourth album will be released in spring 2026, and will be dedicated to the Art of improvisation, mixed with cinema inspirations (as Jean-Baptiste is also a professional cinema critic since more than 10 years).
Chamber music is also very much part of his growing career; he enjoys performing with the Oistrakh String Quartet, Augustin Dumay, Alexandre Kantorow, Marc Coppey, Quatuor Hermès, Quatuor Arod, Fedor Rudin, Quatuor Hanson, Aurélien Pascal and Raphaël Sévère.
Jean-Baptiste Doulcet graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under Claire Désert (piano and chamber music), Thierry Escaich and Jean-François Zygel (improvisation). He also benefited from the guidance of pianists such as Emile Naoumoff, Dmitri Bashkirov, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Epifanio Comis, Alexey Lebedev, Michel Béroff, and took a perfectionnement cycle in Sweden with prof. Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist.
He is also a very prolific composer, with no less than twenty works in his catalogue comprising music for solo instruments, chamber music groups and ensembles. Lastly, he co-founded with his wife the French Connection Academy, an international academy based in Denmark and open for young musicians, creating a deep cultural bridge between France and Nordic countries.
In 2025, he is appointed Piano teacher in Ecole Normale de Paris Alfred Cortot.
PROGRAM
Jean Baptiste Doulcet, Piano
Performing on the LVMH Piano
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
Ballade in G minor, Op. 24
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Carnaval de Vienne
Improvisations
by Jean-Baptiste Doulcet on themes chosen by the audience7)
We are grateful to our 2026 patrons and partners:
2023-2028 YOUNG PIANISTS SCHOLARSHIPS
A post-COVID expansion of our successful scholarship program to sponsor (2023 to 2028) 10 talented young French pianists to attend U.S. based piano festivals, competitions and present their Debut Recitals in New York City and Washington D.C.
THE LVMH STEINWAY PIANO
We are deeply thankful to the generous patrons
who helped us fund our LVMH Steinway piano and make this recital possible:
Keyboard Patrons (above $10,000)
Antoine Simon, Sofitel New York
Dr. Hélene and Dr. Mathieu Petitjean
Marc-André Poirier, Crédit Agricole CIB
Anish Melwani, LVMH
Full Arpeggio Patrons ($5,000 or more)
Denis Ribon, Archimed Group
Chromatic Scale Patrons ($2,500 or more)
The Alice Rosner Foundation
Philippe et Patricia Etienne
The Staff and Employees of the Embassy of France (D.C,)
Christian and Nora Hohenlohe
Key Patrons($1,000 or more)
Lydia Turkie
Harald Greve
French-American Chamber of Commerce (Washington D.C.)
Dr. Mitra Dowlatshahi'
Dr. Mir Farha
Claire Mittaud
Jack and Ellette Kozak
Alexander Sash
David Thoms
Judy and Peter Blum Kovler
Thomad and Deborah Silbverstein
Annie Simonian Totah
Cedric Sage
Pierre de Lucy
Caroline Pillsbury
Tamara Haddad
Rhona Wolfe Friedman and Donald J. Friedman
Anna Katalkina and Gregory Bernstein
Kimberley Heatherington
Jean-Philippe Krukowics
Garnier Thiebaut Inc.
Theodore Pary
David Kosutic
Marie Hélène et Daniel Zavala
Michele et Lucie Wormser
Maggie Hua et Stanislas Vilgrain
Marion E. Rodgers , The Hitchcock Hoagland Foundation in honor of Ambassador Phillippe Etienne
Roxana Nikdjou-van der Mensbrugghe
Edwige Dorel Torgue
Society Members
Growing …
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