Jean-Yves Thibaudet (born 7 September 1961) is a French pianist. Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin and his mother, of German origin and a somewhat accomplished pianist herself, introduced the instrument to Jean-Yves. Thibaudet entered the Lyons Conservatory at the age of five, and thus began seriously studying the piano with several prominent teachers. He made his first public appearance at the age of seven. He won a Lyons Conservatory gold medal in 1974, aged twelve and subsequently entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves. Three years later he won the premier Prix du Conservatoire, and at the age of 18 he won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York. He has performed with most of the world's leading symphonic orchestras including: the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Orchestre National de France, among others. He also frequents the great concert halls of Europe and North America and is quite fond of travelling to Australia, where he has a strong fan base. Thibaudet's virtuosity is such that he even impressed the great Vladimir Horowitz. Among his collaborators in performances and recordings are soprano, Renée Fleming; mezzo-sopranos, Cecilia Bartoli and Angelika Kirchschlager; violist, Yuri Bashmet; violinists, Joshua Bell and Julia Fischer; cellists, Truls Mørk, Daniel Müller-Schott and Gautier Capucon, and the Rossetti String Quartet. Thibaudet has made over 40 recordings for the British label, Decca Records. He has made forays into the world of jazz as well, playing transcriptions of improvisations on the CDs ''Conversations with Bill Evans'' (1997) and ''Reflections on Duke'' (1999). His playing can be heard on the movie soundtracks of ''The Portrait of a Lady'', ''Bride of the Wind'', ''Pride & Prejudice'', and ''Atonement'', the latter of which earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Thibaudet's concert attire is designed by Vivienne Westwood; he first asked her to design an outfit for his appearance at the London Proms in 2002. In 2001, the French Republic made Thibaudet a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In the early months of 2007, Jean-Yves Thibaudet released a recording through Decca titled ''Aria - Opera Without Words'' in which he has selected several of his favorite arias and overtures. It has been over 10 years since the pianist has returned to opera transcriptions; his last was a recording of Franz Liszt transcriptions made in 1993. He has since recorded a disc of Piano Concertos Nos 2 and 5 by Camille Saint-Saëns (with Dutoit/Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, released in October 2007), and a disc of Gershwin works for piano and orchestra in Grofé's arrangements (released March 2010). Jean-Yves Thibaudet has recorded compositions by composers such as Addinsell, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, d'Indy, Gershwin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Satie, Schumann, and Richard Strauss, among others. He and his partner Paul have homes in Los Angeles and Paris, and often travel together; Thibaudet will not accept invitations unless his partner is also invited.