Pianist Jeffrey Grice was born in 1954 in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 1966, his family moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

where he attended Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes, counting among his classmates the future founding members of NZ's iconic rock band

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

. While studying languages (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) at

Waikato University The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in numerous disciplines such as education, socia ...

in Hamilton from 1971 to 1972, classical piano became his passion as he began to perform in lunchtime concerts on campus. Waikato University having no music faculty back in the 1970s, he auditioned in 1972 for the music department of the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

where, from 1973 to 1976, he studied with

Janetta McStay Janetta Mary McStay (20 May 1917 – 14 June 2012) was a New Zealand concert pianist and music professor who performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras, as a solo artist and as an accompanist and chamber music associa ...

and Bryan Sayer, graduating in French and Music. With a Queen Elizabeth Arts Council grant and a French Government scholarship, Grice left New Zealand in October 1976 to further his piano studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

, obtaining the Licence de Concert at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Musique in 1978 in the class of

Germaine Mounier Germaine Mounier (7 February 1920 – 27 June 2006) was a 20th-century French classical pianist and music educator. Biography Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Mounier won First prize at the Conservatoire de Paris. She worked the piano with Yves Nat an ...

. Other formative influences came from intensive classes in Israel with Enrique Barenboim from 1979 to 1980, from the coaching of the American pianist and musicologist

Charles Rosen Charles Welles Rosen (May 5, 1927December 9, 2012) was an American pianist and writer on music. He is remembered for his career as a concert pianist, for his recordings, and for his many writings, notable among them the book '' The Classical St ...

and later from the French/Argentine pianist Florencia Raitzin-Legrand. Resident in France for over forty years and a French citizen since 2005, a former laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, the Cziffra Foundation and the Sophia-Antipolis Foundation, Jeffrey Grice performs regularly throughout Europe and abroad as a soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist. In 1984, he was awarded the Prix de l'Académie du disque français for his recording Le Tombeau de Ronsard with baritone Jacques Herbillon. In 1999, he was made an "Officier dans l'

ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

" by the French government for services in the field of music. He has premiered contemporary works by composers from New Zealand,

Jenny McLeod Jennifer Helen McLeod (12 November 1941 – 28 November 2022) was a New Zealand composer and professor of music at Victoria University of Wellington. She composed several major works for big groups including ''Under the Sun'' for four orchestr ...

(seven Tone Clock Pieces, in 1988), Lucien Johnson (To the sea, in 2007, Addis Nocturnes, in 2017)

Nigel Keay Nigel Keay (born 1955) is a New Zealand composer. He has been a freelance musician since 1983 working as a composer, violist, and violin teacher. Nigel Keay has held the following composer residencies: Mozart Fellowship, University of Otago 1986 ...

(the dancer leads the procession, in 2007), France (Kirill Zaborov and David Chaillou), and Japan (

Karen Tanaka Karen Tanaka (born April 7, 1961) is a Japanese composer. Biography Karen Tanaka was born in Tokyo where she started piano and composition lessons as a child. After studying composition with Akira Miyoshi and piano with Nobuko Amada at Toho Ga ...

). He has recorded in Europe for Calliope, Erato, Integral Classic and Blümlein, in Japan for Sony Classical, Cosmo Village and JVC, and in New Zealand for Waiteata.

References

External links

Jeffrey Grice's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grice, Jeffrey 1954 births Living people 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists 21st-century French male classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists New Zealand classical pianists Musicians from Christchurch École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres New Zealand emigrants to France University of Auckland alumni University of Waikato alumni