Benjamin Alard

Born in Rouen on July 13, 1985, French harpsichordist, organist and clavichordist Benjamin Alard was introduced to the organ in church, then studied with Louis Thiry and François Menissier at the École Nationale de Musique de Dieppe and the Conservatoire de Rouen. After studying harpsichord with Élisabeth Joyé in Paris, he joined the Schola Cantorum Basel in 2003, studying organ with Jean-Claude Zehnder and harpsichord with Andrea Marcon. He went on to win First Prize and Audience Prize at the Bruges International Harpsichord Competition, presided by Gustav Leonhardt, and the Gottfried-Silbermann Organ Competition in Freiburg, as well as the Juventus Foundation Prize, before being nominated for his first Victoires de la Musique award in 2008. Titular organist at Saint-Louis-en-l'île church in Paris, Benjamin Alard embarked on a solo career, performing at international festivals and meetings, and recording for the Hortus, Alpha and Harmonia Mundi labels. A specialist in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, he performed the composer's harpsichord music during a five-year residency at Barcelona's Palau de la Música Catalana, starting in 2012. After several harpsichord recordings, including the volumes Clavier Übung I & II (2010-2011), and organ recordings including Musique française des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (2010), in 2018 he begins a fourteen-volume recording of Bach's complete keyboard works.

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