Pierre Willimann - Classical Guitar Recital (2025)

Among his many artistic facets, this record reflects Pierre Willimann the classical performer. It features several recordings from his academic years at the Haute École de Musique de Genève (HEM) in Switzerland and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

It’s an ambitious project: 17 pieces encompassing 13 works by 10 composers, covering different styles from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. During his formative years, Pierre Willimann won more than 10 prizes in prestigious classical music competitions, including the following: Concours International de Guitare de la Ville d’Antony, Concours d’Excellence de Paris (CMF), Lugano International Music Competition, Concours International de Guitare en Béarn (FIGB), and Concours Suisse de Musique pour la Jeunesse (CSMJ).

All the pieces on this album were recorded live in Geneva and Morges, in Switzerland, between 2017 and 2023. The technical team was made up of Samuel Albert from the HEM in Geneva (for New York Afternoon, The Equations of Beauty “h” and Valse Op.8 No.3), Éric Willimann (Pierre’s brother), Antoine Crettenand, Simón Prêcheur Llarena, and Valentin Prost for the rest of the works. The album was mixed and mastered in Porto Alegre by Marcos Abreu and Antônio Flores.

This recording period was marked by a total immersion in the world of classical music, consisting of voracious listening to great performers, in-depth reading of musicologists’ works, and intense work sessions under the guidance of Willimann’s main teachers: Dušan Bogdanović, Dagoberto Linhares, and Daniel Wolff.

Beyond the rigour in execution, the performer is distinguished by his interpretative freedom, evident in both dynamic contrasts and tempo variations — a result of the musician’s youthful energy and artistic eclecticism at the time of the recordings.