Gael Rakotondrabe

Gael Rakotondrabe (born 20 July 1984) 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. Biography 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 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 he studied with Bernard Maury, the academy’s founder. 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 Si