Thierry Pécou
ComposerThierry Pécou, born in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris studied piano and composition at the Paris Conservatoire. Scholarships for study abroad took him to Canada, Russia, Spain and Latin America from 1989 to 1999. Travelling in different countries and their cultures have become the chief inspiration for his creative activities.
Pécou composes music across a wide range of genres. In recent years, he has composed several concertos and operas: Soleil Rouge (2015) for trumpet player Håkan Hardenberger and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France was followed by Cara Bali Concerto (2020) written for pianist Alexandre Tharaud. Pécou’s latest opera Until the Lions is based on a book by Indian poet Karthika Nair, in which she adapts the Indian epic Mahabharata. Premiered at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg (2022), the piece denounces the violence of war and gives its victims a voice.
Thierry Pécou is the recipient of numerous prizes including the Georges Enesco Prize from Sacem (1993), the Pierre Cardin Prize from the French Academy of Fine Arts (1996) and the Grand Prix of the SACEM (2016). The recording of his Symphonie du Jaguar received the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros (2010).
Thierry Pécou currently lives in Normandy.
Photo (c) Sophie Dupressoir