Alexis Ffrench (GB)

About

Alexis Ffrench has built something genuinely rare: a sound that pulls classical piano training and roots music, R&B, and hip hop into a single, cohesive thing, and somehow made it land with a mainstream audience. His single "Bluebird" has passed 250 million streams in North America alone, and three of his albums, Evolution, Dreamland, and Classical Soul Vol. 1, have all hit number one on the Classical Music Charts. He has headlined the Royal Albert Hall, performed at the Coronation Concert for King Charles III, and played a moving piano tribute at the Royal Carols service at Westminster Abbey following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Ffrench is signed to Sony Music and cites Kendrick Lamar and Anderson.Paak as proof that complex musical ideas can reach anyone when presented the right way. He draws a direct line between Lamar and Béla Bartók, and that kind of thinking runs through his weekly show on Scala Radio, where he mixes Shostakovich with Ariana Grande without batting an eye. He also hosts Classical Connections on Apple Music 1, and serves as the first artistic director of the Royal Schools of Music.