Message from Emmanuel Macron
President of the French Republic

What a joy to see the Long-Thibaud Competition back!

I wanted to sponsor this edition of the Long-Thibaud Competition, because I am convinced that the echos of music that stretches beyond the barriers of time and language is essential for us more than ever.

By proposing to alternately identify a pianist and a violinist of exception, this annual rendezvous of lovers of classical music carries us to the heart of the magic of the duos that the performers weave with the composers between past and present. This year, thirty-two young pianists from all over the world have qualified to take part in this Competition: my warmest congratulations to each of them!

You have chosen works by Chopin, Poulenc, Ravel and others for the 2022 Competition. Each of them, in their own way, illustrated in their time the power of music to resist the cultural withdrawal that threatens us in times of crisis.  It is thus that Schumann compared Chopin’s music to «cannons under the flowers», while a century later it was Francis Poulenc’s turn to compose «Figure humaine» in 1943, based on texts by Paul Eluard, in order to affirm Liberty while war was ravaging Europe.

Let us therefore continue to live, through the talents of the young artists supported by the Fondation Long-Thibaud, this music that unites us. I wish you an excellent Competition!