André Manoukian in Toulon

André Manoukian is a French jazz pianist, composer and arranger, born in Lyon in 1957. His music draws on modal jazz and his Armenian heritage, while his work as a judge on Nouvelle Star brought him to a wider television audience. His recordings include the albums Anouch and Apatride. In 2010, he founded the CosmoJazz Festival in Chamonix, presenting concerts in mountain locations around Mont Blanc as well as in the town itself. He later brought music and spoken storytelling together in the theatre production Les Notes qui s'aiment, performed at the piano as an account of how music shapes memory and emotion.