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Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet records a wide range of repertoire, including Debussy, Liszt, and other virtuoso works, contemporary music, and jazz. He is a staple of the Decca label's catalog and has issued well over 50 recordings.

Thibaudet was born on September 7, 1961, in Lyon, France. His parents were enthusiastic nonprofessional musicians, and he took up the piano when he was very young, entering the Conservatoire de Lyon at age five. At seven, Thibaudet made his first public appearance. Thibaudet went on to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, who knew Ravel personally. Several major prizes while he was still in his teens, including a win at the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York when he was 18, launched his concert career. Signed to the Decca label, where his recordings have continued to appear (sometimes on the London imprint), Thibaudet was heard in 1990 on a recording of Chausson's Concerto for violin, piano, and string quartet. His many recordings for Decca include two jazz albums, Conversations with Bill Evans (1997) and Reflections on Duke (1999).

Thibaudet has appeared with many of the world's leading symphonic ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and the Chicago Symphony. He has often appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2010, and he often tours in Australia, where he has a strong fan base. Unusually for a classical pianist, Thibaudet's publicity lists the designer, Vivienne Westwood, of his concert clothes; he was a friend of famed designer Gianni Versace, and he was often noted early in his career for the bright red socks he wore while playing. In 2001, Thibaudet was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government; he was elevated to the rank of Officier in 2012.

His chamber music partners have included violinists Joshua Bell and Midori, as well as cellist Gautier Capuçon, and he has often accompanied top-flight singers, including soprano Renée Fleming and mezzo-sopranos Angelika Kirchschlager and Cecilia Bartoli. Thibaudet served as pianist-in-residence with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for the 2019-2020 season. In the fall of 2021, he released the recital album Carte Blanche. Thibaudet joined Midori on the Warner Classics label in 2022 for a complete recording of Beethoven's Sonatas for Piano & Violin. In 2024, he returned to Decca for the album Gershwin Rhapsody, joining pop pianist and vocalist Michael Feinstein. ~ James Manheim

Although he was indicted (along with Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and a number of other prominent Soviet musicians) for "formalism," in the infamous Zhdanov decree of 1948, Aram Khachaturian was, for most of his long career, one of the Soviet musical establishment's most prized representatives. Born into an Armenian family, in Tbilisi, in 1903, Khachaturian's musical identity formed slowly, and, although a tuba player in his school band and a self-taught pianist, he wanted to be a biologist, and did not study music formally until entering Moscow's Gnesin Music Academy (as a cellist) in 1922. His considerable musical talents soon manifested themselves, and by 1925 he was studying composition privately with Gnesin himself. In 1929, Khachaturian joined Miaskovsky's composition class at the Moscow Conservatory. Khachaturian graduated in 1934, and before the completion, in 1937, of his postgraduate studies, the successful premieres of such works as the Symphony No. 2 in A Minor "With a Bell" (1935) and, especially, the Piano Concerto in D flat Major (1936) established Khachaturian as the leading Soviet composer of his generation. During the vicious government-sponsored attacks, in 1948, on the Soviet Composers' Union (in which Khachaturian, an active member since 1937, also held an administrative function) Khachaturian took a great deal of criticism. However, although he was officially censured for employing modernistic, politically incorrect musical techniques which fostered an "anti-people art," Khachaturian's music contained few, if any, of the objectionable traits found in the music of some of his more adventuresome colleagues. In retrospect, it was most likely Khachaturian's administrative role in the Union, perceived by the government as a bastion of politically incorrect music, and not his music as such, which earned him a place on the black list of 1948. Nevertheless, Khachaturian made a very full and humble apology for his artistic "errors" following the Zhdanov decree; his musical style, however, underwent no changes. Khachaturian joined the composition faculty of the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnesin Academy in 1950, and that same year he made his debut as a conductor. During the years until his death in 1978 Khachaturian made frequent European conducting appearances, and in January of 1968 he made a culturally significant trip to Washington, D.C., conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in a program of his own works. Khachaturian's characteristic musical style draws on the melodic and rhythmic vitality of Armenian folk music. Although not adverse to sharp dissonance, Khachaturian never strayed from a basically diatonic musical language. The Piano Concerto and the Violin Concerto in D Minor are truly Romantic works, virtuosic, clear, and unaffectedly expressive, remaining therefore popular and frequently performed composition. Of course, many neither of these works matches the popularity of the famous "Sabre Dance" from the ballet Gayane, which made Khachaturian a household name during World War II. His other works include film scores, songs, piano pieces, and chamber music. The degree of Khachaturian's success as a Soviet composer can be measured by his many honors, which include the 1941 Lenin Prize, for the Violin Concerto, the 1959 Stalin Prize, for the ballet Spartacus, and the title, awarded in 1954, of People's Artist.

Gustavo Dudamel's skillful conducting and dedication to music drew international attention while he was just in his twenties, and he continues to attract diverse audiences throughout the world. El Sistema's most famous alumnus and advocate, Dudamel encourages other communities to develop similar youth music programs. He has been the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra since 2009 and took the same role with the Paris Opera in 2021. Leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a host of soloists and choruses, he earned a Grammy Award in 2022 for a recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand"). In early 2023, Dudamel was announced as the next music director of the New York Philharmonic with a five-year term beginning with the 2026-2027 season. This new position will coincide with the conclusion of Dudamel's tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Dudamel was born on January 26, 1981, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He began violin lessons at age ten in Venezuela's El Sistema music program and began studying conducting in 1995 with Rodolfo Saglimbeni. In 1999, he was named music director of the program's Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, studying with El Sistema's founder, José Antonio Abreu. Just five years later, Dudamel won the inaugural Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Competition and became a highly sought-after orchestral and opera conductor, working with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony, and the Israel Philharmonic, among others.

Deutsche Grammophon signed him on as an artist in 2005, releasing his first recording -- Beethoven Symphonies No. 5 and 7 -- in 2006. It then released a video of Dudamel leading the Stuttgart Radio Symphony in a concert for Pope Benedict XVI in honor of the Pope's 80th birthday. In 2007, Dudamel became the music director of the Gothenburg Symphony (where he remained until 2012) and the first conductor under the age of 30 in many years to be appointed to a major orchestra when he was named music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic beginning with the 2009-2010 season. Dudamel's position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was extended through its 100th anniversary season, and again until 2026. He continues to lead the Simón Bolívar Symphony, sometimes bringing the two orchestras together for projects. Dudamel's success and admiration for El Sistema has led to his advocating for similar programs in other communities. In 2007, Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic initiated the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA), which serves more than 1,500 musicians, providing educational support and free instruments.

Dudamel has continued to guest conduct widely, with several opera productions in his repertoire. His score for the film Libertador was released in 2014, as was his recording of the John Adams opera The Gospel According to the Other Mary. In addition to video releases, Deutsche Grammophon has also issued digital-only recordings, including parts of his inaugural concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and an all-Wagner program with the Simón Bolívar Symphony. In 2017, Dudamel led the Vienna Philharmonic's annual New Year's Concert, which was issued by Sony Classical. In 2019, he and the Los Angeles Philharmonic released the album Andrew Norman: Sustain, which won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance. Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic took the Grammy for the same category the following year for their recording of the Symphonies of Charles Ives.

In 2021, the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center opened as a permanent facility for the YOLA program. That year, Dudamel conducted the score for Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of West Side Story, and he became the music director of the Paris Opera, staging Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Puccini's Turandot in his initial season at the helm. In 2022, Dudamel was the subject of the documentary ¡Viva Maestro!, and his performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand") captured the Grammy for Best Choral Performance. He continues to spend a considerable amount of time working with students in Venezuela, and he remains steadfastly committed to inspiring others and making music accessible to all. In February 2023, it was announced that Dudamel's tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic would conclude following the 2025-2026 season. That announcement coincided with the New York Philharmonic choosing Dudamel as the orchestra's next music director, with an initial contract of five years set to begin with the 2026-2027 season. ~ Patsy Morita & Keith Finke