Marc-André Hamelin (born september 5, 1961) is a French-Canadian classical pianist and composer.
Born in Montréal, Quebec, Hamelin is internationally renowned for his musical virtuosity and refined pianism. Perhaps best recognized for his attention to lesser-known composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, such as Leopold Godowsky, he is equally at home with the standard repertoire.
Winner of the 1985 Carnegie Hall International
Competition of American Music, Marc-André Hamelin began his piano studies at the age of five and was nine years old when he won the top prize in a Canadian Music Competition. His father, a pharmacist by trade who was also a keen pianist, introduced him to the works of Alkan, Medtner and Sorabji when he was still very young. His principal teachers were Yvonne Hubert, Harvey Wedeen and Russell Sherman; he studied at the Ecole Vincent d'Indy in Montréal and then at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he now makes his home.
He has made many recordings of a wide variety of composers with the Hyperion label. His recording of the complete Godowsky Studies on Chopin’s Études won the 2000 Gramophone Instrumental Award.
He has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Quèbec (Order of Quebec).
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