Classeek Presents Pianist Nour Ayadi and Cellist Gautier Capuçon 

Pianist Nour Ayadi is an 2024/25 Classeek Ambassador Program artist

Classeek was founded in Switzerland to provide innovative solutions to artists through new technologies and industry knowledge. Its Classeek Ambassador Program created in 2017, helps to support and promote emerging musicians through a one-year career enhancement initiative.

Rising star pianist Nour Ayadi is one of the Classeek Ambassador Program artists for the 2024/25 season. Ayadi’s place in the program was nominated by the French cellist Gautier Capuçon. 

Produced by Montreux Media Ventures for Classeek, the newly released video on YouTube of Ayadi and Capuçon’s performance was recorded live on October 10, 2024. 

Their program included Debussy’s D’un cahier d'esquisses and Masques, Liszt’s Après une lecture du Dante – Fantasia quasi Sonata, and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19. 

“For me, [the piano] is the place where I find myself, where I can meditate, be almost in a sort of trance…it allows me to discover who I am, my limits…” Ayadi told Classeek.

This performance is part of the Claseek Ambassador Program’s YouTube concert series for its nominated young artists. The concert can be viewed below:

Hailing from Casablanca, Morocco, Ayadi began playing the piano at the age of six. She later attended the Paris Conservatoire and the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot. 

Among her awards include the prestigious Prix Cortot and first prize at the Virtuoses du coeur, the Baku International Classical Music Competition, and the HRH Lalla Meryem International Piano Competition in Morocco. She has since performed with the Opéra de Massy Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre des lauréats du Conservatoire, and the Orchestre de Paris. 

In 2020, Ayadi released her first album, featuring works by Robert and Clara Schumann as well as Stravinsky, which was broadcast on France Musique and the Women’s Radio Station in London. Since 2021, she has been an artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she is accompanied and supervised by Louis Lortie and Avedis Kouyoumdjian. 

Alongside her solo career, she is studying for a master’s in public affairs at Sciences Po in Paris, where she is involved in cultural projects at the French National Assembly, the UN in Geneva, and UNICEF. 

An internationally acclaimed cellist, Capuçon has worked with world-leading orchestras and with conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrès Orozco-Estrada, Klaus Mäkelä, Andris Nelsons, and more. In 2022, he founded the Gautier Capuçon Foundation to support emerging musicians and provide them with opportunities to develop their careers through scholarships, mentorship, and performance opportunities.

Capuçon records exclusively for Warner Classics’ sister label Erato, and holds a discography featuring major concerto and chamber music literature. Additionally, he has premiered works by contemporary composers such as Thierry Escaich, Lera Auerbach, and Danny Elfman. Capuçon performs on a 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello.