Biography

Born in 2006, Maxime has studied the cello with Claire Oppert and the piano with Roustem Saïtkoulov for the past ten years, both of whom have profoundly shaped his musical development. Since September 2025, he has been studying at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), in the class of Thomas Grossenbacher, after spending two years at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) in the class of Emmanuelle Bertrand. 

He also benefited from the advice of Steven Isserlis, Kian Soltani, Nicolas Alstaedt, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, Ivan Monighetti, Peter Bruns, Kirill Gerstein and Gábor Takács-Nagy. 

He has participated in several prestigious academies, including the Verbier Festival Academy, the Geneva International String Academy, the Seiji Ozawa International Academy, as well as in masterclasses in Liechtenstein, Villecroze, and Kronberg.

In 2017, he won the “instrument” category on the televised competition "Prodiges", leading to the release of an album with Warner Classics. In 2022, he represented France in the final of the Eurovision Young Musicians in Montpellier, and in 2024 he won the 2nd prize at the Buchet International Cello competition, in Belgium. In October 2025, the Radu Lupu Fondation awarded Maxime the Radu Lupu Prize.

Maxime has had the chance to perform in venues such as the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Minsk Philharmonic, the UNESCO Grand Auditorium and has been invited to festivals such as the Viotti Festival in Italy, the Auvers-sur-Oise Festival in France, “Kazinika Dienas” in Latvia, and many others. In July 2025, he participated in the "Un été en France" tour with Gautier Capuçon.

In January 2025, Maxime made his debut at the Tonhalle Zürich, performing Dvořák's cello concerto with the Bodensee Philharmonie Konstanz, conducted by Gabriel Venzago.

He regularly performs in a duo with pianist Roustem Saïtkoulov, in a trio with pianist Alexandra Dovgan and violinist Ilva Eigus, and together with his brother, organist Alexis Grizard. He has also shared the stage with Clara Saïtkoulov, Valeryi Sokolov, Sergey Ostrovski, Pavel Vernikov, Élise Bertrand and Timothy Ridout, among others.

Keen to share his art and passion for music with different audiences, Maxime regularly plays for the elderly in nursing homes and hospitals, as well as for young people in secondary schools.

Since December 2024, Maxime Grizard plays a 1696 Gioffredo Cappa cello on loan from the Mécénat Musical Société Générale. He also plays a cello by Stephan von Baehr (Paris, 2009), on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.