Difficult, when one meets Caroline Sageman, to forget what a child prodigy she was; her unchanged gaze betrays her. A determined look that has always revealed the same truth: Caroline Sageman did not learn music; she was born into it. It’s not surprising, then, that her biography lacks the usual milestones of ordinary careers.
Educated at home, she grew up amidst Chopin’s waltzes by Rubinstein and piano lessons from Denyse Rivière, herself a disciple of Marcel Ciampi and the teacher of Jean-Marc Luisada.
At the age of nine, she won the first prize at the Kingdom of Music, which led her to the stage of the Salle Pleyel in Paris. The audience then discovered a staggering image: a blonde and tiny girl, feet dangling above the piano pedals, facing off with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Haydn’s Concerto in D major.
Like Claudio Arrau, who would soon follow with benevolence the development of this unique artist, other masters would cross Caroline Sageman’s path: Germaine Mounier with her tireless generosity, Milosz Magin, Hubert Guillard, and of course, Merces De Silva Telles, one of Arrau’s few students.
At seventeen, alone and against everyone’s advice, she prepared for the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Hindered by stage fright, she won the sixth prize in this much-feared competition and remains, to this day, the youngest laureate in the history of the Chopin Competition.
Afterward, Caroline Sageman played extensively in Italy, Japan, and discovered the joys of chamber music. Before taking some time to enter adulthood, explore Johnny Hallyday, culinary art, and fine wines.
In May 2000, her first Chopin album with Lyrinx is that of a great master. Then she records Liszt’s Sonata, confirming to everyone’s ears that she is a unique personality in the world of piano. This is fortunate because Caroline Sageman, more than ever dedicated to her art, is now ready for a career befitting her immense talent and extraordinary personality.” – Arièle Buteaux
A regular guest at major festivals (La Roque d’Anthéron, Chopin Festival in Paris…) or on big stages (La Criée in Marseille), Caroline Sageman enjoys less conventional adventures or simply meeting others.
Enthusiastic about travel and discovering new cultures, in 2010, she gave a series of concerts for the Alliance Française network in the Caribbean and the United States.
One of her most beautiful projects is a show created in 2015 with Patrick Bruel, featuring the texts of Alfred de Musset set to the music of Frédéric Chopin.
Passionate about teaching and transmission, she is an assistant to Jean-Marc Luisada at the Alfred Cortot School in Paris and has a piano class at the Blanc-Mesnil Conservatory. She regularly conducts masterclasses.
Caroline Sageman has recorded in recent years for the Lyrinx label, Chopin’s Polonaises, Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin with violinist David Galoustov, and a Russian Trios album with David Galoustov and cellist Maja Bogdanovic.
Recently, she recorded an album with her niece, violinist Sarah Jégou-Sageman, featuring Chopin’s Preludes, again for the Lyrinx label.
