David Salmon
Manuel Vieillard
Unanimously noted for their artistic and sound symbiosis, David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard are considered one of the most promising duos of their generation. Rewarded in 2019 with the 2nd prize of the International Schubert Competition for piano duet in the Czech Republic and the 1st prize and audience prize at the International 4-handed Piano Competition in Monaco, they won the 1st prize, as well as 5 special prizes at the ARD Munich International Competition in 2021, a real consecration for the piano duo. They have played Poulenc’s Concerto For Two Pianos with the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France at the Philharmonie de Paris (Salle Pierre Boulez), at the Cologne Philharmonic accompanied by the WDR Orchester conducted by Cristian Macelaru, and at the opening of the symphony season of the Philharmonisches Orchester der Stadt Ulm in Mozart’s Concerto For Two Pianos. They have also appeared in recital at the Berlin Philharmonic and Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Robert-Schumann-Saal in Düsseldorf, as well as at La Seine Musicale, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Bozar in Brussels, La Roque d’Anthéron, La Folle Journée in Nantes, and four concerts at La Folle Journée in Japan. David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard began their collaboration as students at the CRR Conservatory in Paris. Their meeting gave rise to the desire to explore the duo repertoire, not as two soloists meeting for a single concert, but as a real chamber music ensemble. Both graduated with distinction in solo piano studies, one at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin and the other at the CNSMD Conservatory in Paris, and are prize winners in international competitions. They perfected their duo skills under Emmanuel Strosser at the CRR, followed by a master’s degree in chamber music with Claire Désert at the CNSMD in Paris. Invited as an ensemble in residence at La Roque d’Anthéron in 2018 and 2019, they have also been mentored by Christian Ivaldi and the Trio Wanderer. Committed to promoting contemporary repertoire, they were invited in 2019 by Jean-François Heisser and Jean-Frédéric Neuburger to the Académie de Villecroze for master classes focusing on works from the 20th and 21st centuries. In 2020, they joined the prestigious Tal & Groethuysen duo class in the postgraduate course at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria, enabling them to further develop as a duo. After a fine recording devoted to Schumann, Brahms and Dvořák (Mirare), their disc dedicated to Debussy and Stravinsky was released in spring 2023 (Mirare/Bechstein). The Geister Duo is supported by the Safran Foundation for Music.