Julien Libeer

Biography

Julien Libeer was born in 1987 near Brussels. After five decisive years with French-Polish pianist and pedagogue Jean Fassina, he studies with Maria João Pires at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, whose advice and support strongly influenced Julien’s views over the last few years.
Julien has performed at the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Flagey (Brussels), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Barbican Hall (London), Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). In addition, other tours have taken him to Japan (Tokyo, Sumida Tryphony Hall), Lebanon (Beirut Chants festival), Turkey (Ankara Music Festival) and the US (Miami International Piano Festival).
He has performed with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and New Japan Philharmonic; under conductors including Trevor Pinnock, Michel Tabachnik, Augustin Dumay, Hervé Niquet, Joshua Weilerstein, Enrique Mazzola, and Christopher Warren-Green.
An accomplished chamber musician, he works on a regular basis with Augustin Dumay, Camille Thomas, Frank Braley, Maria João Pires and Lorenzo Gatto, with whom he has performed the complete Beethoven violin sonatas (at venues including Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre and Royal Concertgebouw). Recent highlights include the release of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with Lorenzo Gatto (Alpha Classics), the first volume of which won the Diapason d’or de l'année 2016, plus his debut concerto album featuring Lipatti’s Concertino for piano and orchestra and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major, KV 595 with Les Métamorphoses Orchestra conducted by Raphaël Feye (Evil Penguin Records). In addition, he was the recipient of an Echo Klassik Award in 2017 for his album with cellist Camille Thomas.
Julien has received the Juventus award (most promising young European soloist) in 2008, and was elected Young Musician of the Year by the Belgian Music Press Association in 2010. The Klara award was attributed to him by the audience of the national radio for classical music twice, in 2013 and 2016.
Beyond concertizing, Julien is driven to initiate or collaborate in projects which are rooted in the idea that music, far beyond its aesthetic value, can be a force of change for anyone willing to listen. Amongst these projects was Julien hosting a Belgian TV series, that made a case for musical storytelling. He furthermore hosts the Salon Libeer concert series at the Bruges Concertgebouw, in which he joins a fellow musician and a speaker (e.g. philosopher, historian, author), as well as the ‘Glass Bead Game Talks’ on his own YouTube channel, a series of discussions exploring the recent evolutions in the classical music world and what to think of them.