French-American Piano Society
in partnership with
THE CONSULATE OF FRANCE IN NEW YORK
presents
Jean Baptiste Doulcet, Piano
“Romantic Faces: from Schumann to Scandinavia”
2026 Benefit Recital
TUESDAY, March 24 2026 AT 6:30 PM
CONSULATE OF FRANCE IN NEW YORK
PROGRAM
Recital Story
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.
Jean Baptiste Doulcet, Piano
Performing on the James E. Sheeran Steinway 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 audience
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.
We are grateful to our 2026 RECITAL partners:
THE YOUNG PIANISTS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Young Pianists Scholarship Program, spearheaded by the French-American Piano Society, is a distinguished initiative aimed at nurturing the next generation of French piano virtuosos for U.S. audiences. This program offers exceptional young pianists an invaluable opportunity to advance their international presence and experience. Selected scholars from the Conservatoire National de Paris benefit from access to world-class performance venues at the Consulate of France in New York and the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., where they are exposed to and meet curious and supportive U.S. audiences.
THE JAMES J. SHEERAN STEINWAY PIANO
At its inaugural recital on January 16th 2018, S.E. Anne Claire Legendre, Consul General of France in New York, in the company of S.E. Bertrand Lortholary, Ambassador of France in Vietam, Former Consul General of France in New York, and S.E. Francois Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United Nation, former Ambassador of France to the USA, and former Consul General of France in New York, dedicated our Steinway concert piano to
JAMES J. SHEERAN
(1923 - 2007)
A GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOT, WWII VETERAN, SON OF FRANCE, AND CHEVALIER DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR (2006) OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
We are deeply thankful to the generous patrons
who helped us fund our James J. Sheeran Steinway piano
CREDIT AGRICOLE CIB
NJ CURE
JCDECAUX
ALICE ROSNER FOUNDATION
COLAS, INC
COMMITTEE OF FRENCH SPEAKING SOCIETIES
CONNECTHINGS
CONSEILLERS DU COMMERCE EXTERIEUR DE LA FRANCE
MEDNEST
RATP DEV
VERONIQUE TRAVEL
and
The “88 Keys” Society Members and Patrons:
Helene Buchen (C1#, D1#, F1&#, G1#, A1&#, F2#, G2#, A2#)
Gilles Rousseau (G2,A2,B2,C3,D3,E3,F3,G3)
Veronique and Pascal Carpentier (C6#, D6#, F6#, G6#, A6#)
Ariane Daguin (B6, A6, G6, C7)
Anne-Julia Audray (D5, F5, A4)
Jean-Pierre Bizzari, MD (A5, B5)
Laurence Chertoff (D2#, D3#)
Thomas and Albane Duplan (C8, B1)
Valerie and Gerard Duval (G7#, F7#)
Lily Hsia (D5#, D7#)
Susan Mackenzie (E6, C7#)
Martha and Rick Olson (E4, G4)
Daniel and Teresa Petitjean (F7, G7)
Helene and Mathieu Petitjean (A0#,A4#)
Dr. Ellie Abdi (B0)
Catherine Munera and Alfredo Basurto (E5)
Carey and Brett August (C6)
Veronique et Serge Banzet (A5)
Arnaud Boyer (E7)
Nigel Brown (G1)
Florence and Eric Brun (G5)
Eric and Isabelle Chaboureau (F2)
Vésine de La Rue (D2)
Philippe Dreano (G3#)
Yoni Elmalem (A7#)
Sylvie Epelbaum,MD (D4#)
John F. Bennet, Paris-American Club (G4#)
Bernard Frelat (F6)
French-American Choir of New York (A4)
Simone Galton (B3)
Guy Geslin (D7)
Anthony Gilroy (A3)
Robert Gorman (D1)
Odile Gorse (C1)
Herve Houdre (C2)
Laurent Kleitman (C5#)
Remy Lumbroso (D6)
Pierre Martin (F3#)
Andrea Mayes (C5)
Hanyi Meng (A7)
Jean-Hugues Monier (E2)
Mark Morris (A3#)
Rick and Mary O'Connell (E1)
Elizabeth Olson (C4)
Claudine and Bernard Parisot (C4#)
Joseph Patrych (G5)
Michel and Judith Pautrat (F4)
Jean Perrette (B7)
Dmitry Rachmanov (F4#)
Jerome Rose (A0)
Sophie Schyler - Chateau Kirwan (F5#)
Guy Sorman (D4)
Annaliese Soros (C2#)
Marie-Monique Steckel (B4)
Code of Conduct
It is the policy of the French-American Piano Society that all attendees of Society hosted recitals, events, and associated activities are expected to exhibit respectful, and ethical behaviors.
Please review our Code of Conduct Policy here.
Report Violations of the Policy here