Pierre Pincemaille
French organist Pierre Pincemaille was born in Paris on 8 December 1956 and began learning piano in 1965. He won five first prizes - in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ and improvisation - at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers were Marcel Bitsch, Henri Challan, Rolande Falcinelli and Jean-Claude Raynaud.
Between 1978 and 1990 he won five grand prizes at five different international competitions, mostly for improvisation.
From 1987 he was organist at St Denis Cathedral, near Paris.
His many recordings include discs of the complete works of Duruflé and Franck, Widor's ten organ symphonies, early Messiaen and several discs of improvisations.
He was a professor at the Conservatoire National de Paris, and was also active as a composer.
Pierre Pincemaille died from lung cancer on 12 January 2018, aged sixty-one.