Jason Kouchak is a French pianist, composer and singer-songwriter.

Early life

Jason Mariano Kouchak was born in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and studied classical piano at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He is a descendant of

Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...

, the Russian naval commander.

Performing and recording career

Jason Kouchak has recorded five albums, two of which were recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

. He has appeared on British television network

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and the Japanese broadcasting company

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

performing his own musical compositions. He has toured globally as a classical pianist, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. He has performed at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

(London),

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

(Paris), and the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

(Saint Petersburg) with recitals at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

. Other performances include ''The Moon represents my Heart'' arranged for Julian Lloyd Webber & Jiaxin Cheng at the

Chelsea Arts Club Chelsea Arts Club is a private members' club at 143 Old Church Street in Chelsea, London with a membership of over 4,000, including artists, sculptors, architects, writers, designers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club wa ...

celebrating Lloyd Webber's 60th Birthday gala concert and Chopin's bicentennial Guildhall Concert with singer and actress

Elaine Paige Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...

in 2010. He has also sung in cabaret performances at the Café de Paris and the Café Royal. Kouchak performed at the

Galle Literary Festival Galle Literary Festival is an international literary festival held annually in the beautiful south coastal fort town of Galle, Sri Lanka. In recent years the profile of the festival has increased substantially, with attendance by many internationa ...

2012 with

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

and in the same year gave a piano recital at the opening of the London Chess Classic. In 2012, he became the Director of Music for the 20th anniversary of the French Film Festival UK in London and Edinburgh, performing on Chopin's anniversary at the British Embassy in Paris.

Select appearances

In 1990, Kouchak was a guest artist at Princess Margaret's 60th birthday celebration at the Ritz Hotel and appeared as a guest classical pianist at Zeffirelli's film premiere of

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the same year. Kouchak performed his interpretation of ''

Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

'' for

Emperor Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

at London's

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in 1998 and at the Kobe earthquake charity event in 1995. This piece was recorded with Julian Lloyd Webber on his album ''

Cello Moods ''Cello Moods'' is an album recorded by the British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and, principally, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under James Judd in 1998 for Philips. It is a collection of classical pieces either originally written for or ad ...

'' and presented by Olympic ice skater

Yuka Sato is a Japanese former competitive figure skater and choreographer. She is the 1994 World champion, the 1990 World Junior champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 19 ...

in 1999. In 2017, the piece was performed at a 20-year celebration concert in Brussels. In 2011 and 2013, Kouchak performed the Russian song '' Dark Is the Night'' with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

. In commemoration of the Russian Revolution 100 year anniversary, a special concert was given in 2017. Kouchak performed ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...

'' at the official opening ceremony for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in March 2015 and composed the festival's official 2016 theme song. In 2017, Kouchak organised and performed at a special Suomi 100 year celebration concert at the Embassy of Finland in London. Jason Kouchak published a music homage to Carlsen and Caruana on the eve of the World Chess Championship match 2018 entitled ''Victory Moves''. In 2018, Kouchak also directed and composed a chess-themed ballet project with two orchestral ballet pieces at Holland Park outdoor chess set to mark the 100-year anniversary of women's rights and empowerment in the UK. In June 2019, at the Norway Chess closing ceremony, Kouchak played

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

's '' Piano Concerto in A Minor'' and the world premier of his own composition ''Queen of the Knight''. This performance was based on Philidor's ''Princess of Norway'' and Mozart's '' Queen of the Night'' aria reflecting the fusion of classical chess with blitz Armageddon that characterised the tournament. In July 2019, Kouchak performed at the Heart of Finland international chess tournament opening ceremony. In spring 2020, Kouchak created an astronomy and music piece to mark the Royal Astronomical Society's 2020 bicentenary and the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic space flight. In spring 2021, he celebrated the ten-year anniversary of Holland Park Chess and in July, the Chessfest in Trafalgar Square. Kouchak produced the theme song of the chess festival ''Into the Light'' with a music and dance performance. The song was also performed during the exhibition ''Curiouser and Curiouser'' at the

in the same month. In autumn 2021, Kouchak performed

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

at the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

to celebrate the return of the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity match. In 2022, Kouchak wrote a musical ''A Queen Before Her Time'' about Vera Menchik, the world's best female chess player at the time, which was celebrated during the International Women's Day in London. In July 2022, Kouchak celebrated the

Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the Platinum jubilee, 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was the first time that any History of monarchy in the U ...

with

Pattie Boyd Patricia Anne Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harris ...

. In order to represent the Queen's years of sacrifice they created a specific chess problem on Holland Park giant chess board. In September 2024, Jason Kouchak performed his chess-themed song "Royal Game" at the grand opening of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary for its 100 year anniversary.

Public contributions

Kouchak's contributions include the launching of two Children's Giant Chess Sets at

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

, London with Stuart Conquest in 2010 and in

The Meadows (park) __NOTOC__ The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, to the south of the city centre. It consists largely of open grassland crossed by tree-lined paths, but also has a children's playground, a croquet club, tennis courts and ...

Edinburgh in 2013 and John Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland chess set. In 2013, Kouchak led a campaign to save the famous piano department at Harrods. He also composed the official chess charity theme song ''Moving Forward'' for CSC. Kouchak founded the Tsubasa Children's Choir in 2011 which opened the Matsuri Festival and performed Jupiter from Holst's Planets suite in the Queen's Jubilee year 2012 at Trafalgar Square, London. In 2016, his chess and ballet musical work was performed at the British Museum and in New York celebrating the role of women as queens in chess. Kouchak choreographed and composed the theatrical stage production of the Queen's Journey in 2017 at Judit Polgar's Global Chess Festival. In 2018, he received an award as a Goodwill Ambassador of Artistic Values of Chess. In 2019, at the London Chess Conference, Kouchak contributed to education and empowerment in women's chess.

Discography

* ''Space Between Notes'' (2017) * ''Comme d'Habitude'' (2011) * ''Midnight Classics'' (2008) * ''Forever'' (2001) * ''Watercolours'' (1999) * ''Première Impression'' – 1997 * ''Cello Moods (Sakura only)''

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouchak, Jason Living people 21st-century French male classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists British male pianists English classical pianists English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British male musicians