Gael Rakotondrabe

Gael Rakotondrabe is a French pianist, composer, and jazz musician. He achieved recognition by winning the First Prize in the piano competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2008. Gael Rakotondrabe was raised on the island of Réunion in a musically inclined family (he is René Lacaille’s great nephew). At the age of 11, he commenced took up the piano. He acquired his diploma from the Regional Conservatory at the age of 17, simultaneously securing the 3rd Prize in the "Pian'Austral Jazz" competition—a regional piano competition featuring participants from Indian Ocean countries. Alain Jean-Marie presided as head of the jury for the competition.In 2001, Gael Rakotondrabe enrolled in the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris, where studied with Bernard Maury, the academy's founder, and a close friend of Bill Evans.In 2004, he graduated from both the Bill Evans Piano Academy and the jazz department of the Nadia and Lily Boulanger Conservatory.Concurrently, he pursued studies in classical composition and harmony under Isabelle Duha at the Issy-les-Moulineaux Conservatory.Rakotondrabe's musical pursuits encompassed various jazz formations, including a quintet dedicated to the tribute of Horace Silver, featuring David Sauzay and Fabien Mary. The quintet's won the Sunside Trophy in 2005.Additionally, he established his own jazz trios and delivered solo performances.In 2007, Gael received the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of a carte blanche event hosted by David Byrne. He performed with artists such as Devendra Banhart, CocoRosie, Animal Collective, and Vashti Bunyan.Gael Rakotondrabe assumed the roles of pianist and arranger for the group CocoRosie. This collaboration led to international tours from 2007 to 2011, including performances at Coachella in the United States, the Sydney Opera House, and the Olympia in Paris.In 2008, Gael collaborated with Jules Buckley to arrange CocoRosie’s songs for a unique performance with the Royal Concertgebouw Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Suzanna Mälki.The same year, he won the first prize in the international piano competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival, with Fazil Say presiding as head of the jury and Quincy Jones as the honorary president. This achievement propelled him into the "Montreux Jazz Winner" tour, where he opened for Jamie Cullum and the CTI Jazz All-Star Band at the Miles Davis Hall in Montreux. In 2009, Gael collaborated with Sierra Casady, designer Gaspard Yurkievich, and set designer Nadia Lauro for the show Transhumance at the Centre Pompidou.In 2011, he contributed as arranger, composer, and co-producer to CocoRosie's album Grey Oceans.Subsequently, he undertook the role of musical director for Robert Wilson's opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, featuring Anohni (Antony & the Johnsons) , Matmos, Marina Abramovic, and Willem Dafoe. Gael also participated in the theater production Edda alongside CocoRosie.Simultaneously, Gael Rakotondrabe became a member of "Antony and The Johnsons" and started a worldwide tour featuring philharmonic orchestras in the cities they traveled to.He was invited by Marina Abramovic to partake in a performance with Anohni at the Guggenheim in New York as part of her 70th birthday celebration.Gael's involvement in the world of cinema extended to composing and contributing to the scores of feature films, including Afterschool (2008) directed by Antonio Campos, Mystery (2012) directed by Lou Ye, both of which competed in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, and Mr. Leos caraX (2014) by Tessa Louise-Salomé, presented at the Sundance Film Festival.

He also composed the score for the animated film University of Disaster (2017) by the painter Radenko Milak, featured at the Venice Biennale.Rakotondrabe produced and recorded for artists such as Yasmine Hamdan (2012), CocoRosie (2007-2010), Mélanie Pain (2016), Thomas Roussel (2018), and Woodkid (2020).

In 2022, he undertook the composition of the score for Other People's Children (2022), nominated at the Venice Film Festival and Sundance.

In 2023, he composed the score of The Wild One (2023) by Tessa Louise-Salomé, which earned the Best Cinematography Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, and of On the Edge (2023) by Nicolas Peduzzi, presented in the ACID section at the Cannes Film Festival and receiving a special mention from the jury at CPH:DOX, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival.