Alongside the concert, Leïla Olivesi will lead a 90-minute masterclass open to the general public, consisting of a 75-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of audience Q&A. The session will focus on her compositions, offering an opportunity to discover her works, including pieces featured in the concert that follows, and explore their place in jazz history alongside the two great female figures who have influenced her.
A French-Mauritanian pianist, composer, and bandleader, Leïla Olivesi has established herself as one of the most distinctive voices on the French jazz scene. Of Corsican and Mauritanian heritage, she was born at the Moulin d’Andé in Normandy and grew up in the vibrant, cosmopolitan artistic environment of her family, surrounded by the bandoneon music of Astor Piazzolla, Nina Simone, and the sounds of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. She discovered the joys of performing at an early age, taking the stage at just thirteen with the P’tits Loups du jazz ensemble. She holds a PhD in Music and Musicology and a degree in Philosophy from the Sorbonne, and studied jazz piano, composition, and orchestration with Mulgrew Miller, Manuel Rocheman, Bernard Maury, and Laurent Cugny.
The recipient of numerous awards, she won the 2022 Django Reinhardt Prize from the Académie du Jazz, recognizing the musician of the year. An acclaimed composer, she has also won first prize in the international Ellington Composers big band composition competition, the Sunside Awards, and several Sacem prizes. Her albums have earned widespread critical acclaim, including CHOC Jazzmag, Indispensable Jazz News, a Coup de cœur from the Académie Charles Cros, and an ffff rating from Télérama. She has performed on major stages and at festivals, from Jazz à Vienne and Jazz in Marciac to the Théâtre de Caen and the Radio France Montpellier Jazz Festival, as well as in Ankara and Nouakchott.
With seven albums as a bandleader, from Frida (2004) to African Rhapsody (2025), including Suite Andamane (2019) and Astral (2022), she has collaborated with artists such as Elisabeth Kontomanou, Manu Codjia, Émile Parisien, Jeanne Added, Magic Malik, and David Binney. Much in demand for her large-ensemble compositions—including Rhapsody in Black for the International Philharmonic Choir, Le Tour du Monde en 80 Lunes for children’s choir, and the Suite Andamane for symphony orchestra, big band, and choir—she continues to develop a body of work that France Musique has described as “original and harmonious music at the cutting edge of modernity.”