BIOGRAPHY

Esther Assuied first studied piano with Raymond Alessandrini before being unanimously admitted, at the age of 14, to the CNSMDP, where she earned her Master’s degree after studying successively with Michel Béroff, Frank Braley, and Michel Dalberto. At the same time, she also studied with Olivier Cazal and Fabio Bidini.

She later developed an interest in other keyboard instruments and was unanimously admitted in 2016 to the fortepiano class of Patrick Cohen at the CNSMDP, where she received her Master’s degree with highest honors. In 2019, she also entered Olivier Latry’s organ class, once again with unanimous admission. Alongside this, she joined the Analysis and Composition (Writing) classes, also unanimously, in 2016 and 2021 respectively. She began learning the organ in 2014 with Philippe Brandeis; from 2015 onwards, she chose to dedicate herself to it and began a parallel career that has led her to perform throughout France. She also studied organ with Paul Goussot and Christophe Mantoux. She was awarded her DNSPM in organ from the CNSMDP with highest distinction, in the class of Philippe Brandeis.

She has won numerous international competitions since the age of seven. In 2014, she was selected from 1,040 applicants as one of the 32 participants in the Horowitz Competition in Kyiv (which did not take place due to political unrest in Ukraine). She is also a laureate of the Piano Campus competition and was the only French finalist selected for the 2013 Lagny-sur-Marne competition. Winner of the Grand Prix d’Honneur at the Bellan Competition in 2013, she received a scholarship from the Cap-Ferret Academy and was invited to give several concerts. First Prize winner at the 2023 Caneres Competition, she will take part in the grand finale in October at the Musikverein in Vienna.

She performs in concert both solo and with orchestra (Bach concertos, Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Copland’s Appalachian Spring). She is involved in several premieres and participates in internationally renowned festivals (Giverny Chamber Music Festival, Piano Campus, Annecy Classic Festival). She also served as the organist-in-residence for the 2021–2022 season at the Royal Chapel of Versailles, as part of a partnership with the CMBV (Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles).

Deeply interested in organ transcriptions, she has developed several transcription cycles that she regularly performs in concert.

She is also committed to making the organ accessible to a wider audience. In 2017, she created a series of concerts based on the Harry Potter saga, with each concert tracing the full arc of the story. In 2024, she was selected by Warner Bros. from among hundreds of applicants as one of the three finalists in the Harry Potter Ambassador competition. As part of this, she created two videos, for which she also recorded the soundtrack on the organ herself.

She is also pursuing a path in literature.