Ramzi Yassa

Who is Ramzi Yassa?

Ramzi Yassa is an Egyptian pianist. An outstanding member of the first batch of musicians trained at the Cairo Conservatory, Yassa graduated in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, taking part in the 1974 Tchaikovsky competition, where he earned an Honorary certificate. He then launched a concert career, settling in Paris. Three years later, he was the first Egyptian pianist to win a major piano competition - the 'Paloma O'Shea' Santander International Piano Competition.

The first Arab pianist to record Beethoven's piano concertos, Ramzi Yassa has performed in halls as renowned as the Vienna's Musikverein, the Berliner Philharmonie, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Barbican Centre, the Royal Albert Hall or the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, collaborating with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Charles Groves and Vladimir Ashkenazy. A teacher in Paris' École Normale. He is a recipient of the Liszt Centennial Commemorative Medal as well as the 2007 Egyptian State Prize for Music, for the first time awarded to a performing musician.