Concert Pianist | Composer | Piano Professor

Ayad Khalifé is a Lebanese pianist, composer, and educator whose career bridges classical performance, chamber music, jazz, improvisation, and composition. He began studying piano at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music at the age of five under Narine Abrilian and later Angela Hadichian, earning his Piano Diploma at just fifteen. During his early years, he performed extensively with his twin brother, cellist Sary Khalifé, and appeared as a soloist with the Lebanese National Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Kabalevsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2. He received the Third Prize at the 6th International Piano Competition in Morocco in 2004 before winning First Prize at the Margot Babickian Piano Competition in Beirut in 2005.

In 2006, Ayad continued his studies at the Conservatory of Boulogne-Billancourt in France, where he studied piano with Paul-André Gaye and chamber music with Hortense Cartier-Bresson, graduating with distinction. He later earned the National Professional Diploma of Musician (DNSPM), a degree in Musicology, and a State Diploma in Piano Teaching. Alongside his classical training, he expanded his artistic language through jazz studies with Damien Nedonchelle, chamber music with Jérôme Voisin, and improvisation with Vincent Le Quang. Since 2015, he has been a piano professor at the Olivier Messiaen and Albéric Magnard Conservatories in Évry, France.

As a performer, Ayad has appeared at prestigious venues including the Place des Arts in Montreal, the Barbican Hall in London, the National Convention Center in Doha, and the Grand Palais in Paris. His repertoire includes Beethoven’s and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, performed with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra alongside his brother Sary Khalifé and violinist Karim Saleh under the baton of Michalis Economou.

A prolific composer, Ayad has released several acclaimed projects, including Naseej (2014), inspired by Lebanese folklore, jazz, spiritual poetry, and Sufi music; Soobia (2018), co-written with Sary Khalifé and produced by AFAC and Nagam Records, blending jazz, Oriental, and classical music; and Salt & Shadows (2021), a collaboration with Sary Khalifé and singer Jahida Wehbe combining poetry and instrumental improvisation. In 2017, he premiered his orchestral suite Esquisses with the Lebanese National Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024, he composed a large-scale orchestral and choral tribute to Queen, performed by the USJ Choir and the JML Symphony Orchestra at Casino du Liban under the direction of Yasmina Sabbagh. He is currently recording a new album with Sary Khalifé, continuing their long-standing artistic collaboration.