Praised for “her calm technical control, her immediate sense of balance”, as well as for “extraordinary vigor, flawless musicality” (Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, 2013), French pianist Mathilde Handelsman has performed as a solo and chamber musician throughout Europe and the United States. Her principal teachers are John O’Conor, Menahem Pressler and Laurent Cabasso.

Mathilde was born in Paris in 1990 to a family of musicians. She started the piano with her mother at age four and was admitted a few years later to the Conservatoire de Paris (CRR) which lead her to perform in prestigious venues including two operas at Bastille and a concert under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. She has won prizes at national and international piano competitions in France such as Concours International d’Ile-de-France, Concours de Chatou, Claude Kahn and U.F.A.M. In 2009 she was awarded 1st prize at the Young Artists Competition of Alès.

Mathilde was regularly invited to participate in international masterclasses during which she received guidance from Andrei Gavrilov (who described Ms. Handelsman as “an outstanding pianist”), Asaf Zohar, Boris Berman, Robert McDonald, Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier, Julian
Martin and Christopher Elton. She has been featured in festivals such as “Pianofest in the Hamptons,” Wissembourg International Music Festival, Gijon International Piano Festival, Ferrara International Piano Festival and Masterclasses at the Adamant Music School.

Passionate about literature, Mathilde Handelsman writes and composes. From ages 13 to 17, she studied harmony and composition at the conservatory in Paris and wrote several pieces which were subsequently performed in recitals and competitions. Mathilde also completed one year of Theater Studies at the Sorbonne and took part in a series of acting masterclasses in New York in 2008. Furthermore, she regularly works as a French-English translator. In the last two years, Mathilde published two books of poems: Pré-sage (2016) and L’Absurde Génie des Fleurs
(2017).

Mathilde is also currently a member of the “Boutry Ensemble,” a group of American musicians dedicated to the promotion of internationally acclaimed pianist, conductor and composer Roger
Boutry (Prix de Rome, 1954).

Mathilde Handelsman holds a Bachelors and a Masters degree “Magna cum laude” in Piano Performance from the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg. She completed a Performer Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University-Bloomington while also teaching there as an Associate Instructor and as a faculty member of “Young Pianists.” She is currently pursuing a Doctorate (DMA) at Shenandoah University on a full-tuition scholarship.