Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin, and his mother, of German origin and a somewhat accomplished pianist herself, introduced the instrument to Jean-Yves.

Thibaudet entered the Lyons Conservatory at the age of five,and began seriously studying the piano with several prominent teachers. He made his first public appearance at the age of seven. He won a Lyons Conservatory gold medal in 1974, when he was twelve, and subsequently entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves. Three years later, he won the premier Prix du Conservatoire, and at the age of 18 he won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York.

He has performed with most of the world's leading symphonic orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Orchestre National de France, among others. He also performs in the great concert halls of Europe and North America and is quite fond of travelling to Australia, where he has a strong fan base. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2010.Thibaudet's virtuosity is such that he even impressed the great Vladimir Horowitz.

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