About

Betsy Schlesinger is a pianist full of élan, spontaneity and life, and an ever-awakening sense of curiosity. She doesn't limit herself to one repertoire category or genre, playing contemporary works as well as classical, chamber music, vocal music or solo piano. In short, a musician who focuses her attention - and therefore ours - on the music she plays, not on herself.”

This is how pianist and composer Noël Lee describes pianist Betsy Schlesinger. Indeed, Betsy’s career has been original and eclectic, from a diverse discography to musical theater, musical direction, chamber music, accompaniment and teaching.

Photo: Jean-Baptiste Millot

Betsy studied at the Eastman School of Music, with Barry Snyder and notably with Barbara Lister-Sink, and at the Yale School of Music with Seymour Lipkin. While at Yale, Betsy formed a piano trio with Annie Fullard, violin (currently Sidney M. Friedberg Chair, professor of Chamber Music Peabody Institute) and Merry Peckham, cello (currently Assistant Dean chamber music, Juilliard)  coaching with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. Upon receiving the Harriet Hale Woolley and Nadia Boulanger scholarships/grants from the United States Foundation and the École d'Art Américaine de Fontainebleau, Betsy continued her studies in France with Pierre Sancan and Vlado Perlemuter. During her early years in Paris, Betsy also coached with Noël Lee, Gaby Casadesus, Gérard Souzay and Dalton Baldwin.

In Paris, she met her husband, pianist and composer Laurent Grynszpan. Together they recorded the soundtrack for Marek Halter's film Tzedek les Justes (music by Laurent Grynszpan) and Souvenirs de la Belle Époque (piano four hands, Universal Music Publishing). They also recorded several CDs for children, including the audiobook À Quand le Cancan? Olivier Minne raconte (harmonia mundi, Taklit) and Je donne ma langue au chant! (Taklit), which won an award from the European Commission in 2006.

In 1995, following her work on Tzedek, les Justes, Betsy recorded Recueil de Pierres vives, solo piano pieces by composer Joël Wissotzky (Cézame Argile). In an interview marking the release of this album, the film critic Jean-Jacques Bernard (France-Inter) said: "It's simply magnificent, it's ethereal, and wonderfully fluid...".

A laureate of the Menuhin Foundation with soprano Rosalie Becker, Betsy appeared on several radio shows on France Musique, including the recording of Franz Schubert's “Schwanengesang" with French baritone Frédéric Goncalves.

Betsy and Laurent were filmed at the Théâtre Déjazet in Paris for Japanese director Takashi Minamoto's TV film about the life of Erik Satie, broadcast on NHK in spring 2008.

In 2009, Betsy and Laurent joined the Théâtre à Bretelles in Méliès! Cabaret Magique, a retrospective written and directed by Anne Quesemand, exploring the work of Georges Méliès, combining cinema, music, magic and theater. The show, with music by Laurent, was produced with the help of Madeleine Malthète Méliès and Serge Bromberg of Lobster Films and was performed over 200 times in France, at the Théâtre de la Vieille Grille in Paris and at the Festival OFF d'Avignon 2017.

Betsy's insatiable curiosity often propels her toward new horizons, expanding her artistic identity. In 2014, she lent her voice (in English) to two documentaries, Umudugudu! Rwanda 20 ans après by director Giordano Cossu and Le Centre d'Art de Port-au-Prince : Émergence et Renouveau by Anne Lescot.

Le quartet funamabule. Photo: David Quesemand

In 2017, Betsy and Laurent created the ensemble Le quartet funambule, with their two sons, William Grynszpan, violin/viola, and Benjamin Grynszpan, cello. At the Festival OFF d'Avignon in July 2018, Le quartet funambule performed for the “Open Stage for Contemporary Authors and Artists" series at the Espace Alya. That same year, Le quartet funambule recorded Pictures of the Past (music by Laurent, PennyBank Tunes). In 2019, the quartet recorded the original soundtrack (music by Laurent) for Les Anagrammes - Léonardo da Vinci (Théâtre à Bretelles)

The quartet recorded their second album in July 2023 which was released in January 2025 with PennyBank Tunes as Rhapsody of Remembrance.

In September 2020, Betsy recorded original music for solo piano by Laurent and French pianist Gilbert Sigrist for Piano Stories: Romance & Élégance (PennyBank Tunes).

Since 2023, she has been touring with the children's show "L'extraordinaire voyage de Jacques" by Lauren Fodor (Compagnie Un Air d'Oiseau), based on Offenbach arias with soprano Caroline Blanpied and actor David Bremaud.