"The audience discovered the virtuosity of violinist François Pineau-Benois. "Chic as Ravel and diabolical as a Romanian", the musician literally captivated the audience with his performance imbued with a captivating and spellbinding emotional wholeness." Le Journal de la Haute Marne, 27 January 2024
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"In the violinist's playing are felt not only technical mastery, a great school, but also the depth of feelings, sincerity, a very individual and sometimes very modern interpretation of classical works." North Star, August 1 2018
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"The 17-year old French youth Pineau-Benois gave the first movement of Franck’s sonata with great maturity and insight, ... and ended with Franz Waxmann’s Carmen Fantasy; one doubts if one could hear this brilliant showpiece played better -technically, musically or with more élan... It was simply outstanding." Musical Opinion (UK), November-December 2012
A violinist of the new generation, François Pineau-Benois has been nicknamed the "French virtuoso" by the international press. He holds masters degrees in violin and chamber music from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP). He studied with Régis Pasquier at the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot. He has also worked with Maxim Vengerov, Salvatore Accardo and Mauricio Fuks at competitive European academies such as Kronberg. He is the recipient of career grants from the Fondation Banque Populaire and Safran pour la Musique (2017), "Culture Moves Europe" (EU), Adami (2023), and prizes from international competitions such as Pro Musici, Alexander Glazounov, Young Artist Award from the Leopold Mozart Competition... He plays with renowned musicians François-René Duchable, Régis Pasquier,... And young musicians in France and abroad. The non-exhaustive geography of his concerts includes Belgium, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Israel, United Kingdom, Austria, Czech Republic, Turkey... He has appeared as soloist with symphony orchestras abroad and in France on several occasions.
His performance of Vieuxtemps's 5th concerto with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia in April 2023 drew rapturous applause from the standing-room-only audience in the presence of their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Belgium and France; Paganini's 24 Caprices in July 2023 in Finland was praised by professionals, testifying to the fact that for over thirty years in Finland no such performance has been heard.
He is invited by France Musique, Radio Néerlandaise and Radio Bartok for live broadcasts. He performs at the Salle Cortot, the Grand Salon des Invalides, the Liszt Chamber hall in Budapest, ... And at prestigious festivals such as Auvers-sur-Oise, Festival de Ravel à Montfort, Festival Radio France à Montpellier, Gstadt New Year Festival...
His first CD with Philia Trio (2022) was nominated by France Musique and Classica. A multi-faceted musician, he works with contemporary composers Graciane Finzi, Régis Campo, Antonio Santana and Seppo Torvikoski, and recorded Matti Murto's Concertino for Violin and Strings, supported by the Télépart mobility grant from the Finnish Institute in Paris.
With the support of the ACM SIGMM learned society, François Pineau-Benois leads the "Music meets Science" program and revives the works of composers from the Rachmaninoff Conservatory in the "Les Voix de l'Exil" concert series supported by the Belaieff-Schott Foundation.
François Pineau-Benois plays Lucien Durosoir's historic 18th-century Italian violin "Le Genève", the instrument this early 20th-century virtuoso took with him to the front in the First World War.
He teaches at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff in Paris, founded by the composer himself. He has given masterclasses to students at the Oulu Conservatory (Finland) and the Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan (Armenia).