Mourad Tsimpou, a young piano prodigy known by the stage name Mourad, died Saturday, June 29, at the age of 19, the newspaper announced.AFP one of his managers.
He died at Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris from a rare liver disease he had suffered from since childhood, said Salim Lebghil, one of the two directors of 1392 Records.
“He played without sheet music”
Young prodigy, model of success, youngest of a working-class family of Comorian origin, living in one of the poorest cities of Marseille, La Castellane, he fell in love with Chopin and Mozart on the internet.
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After receiving an introduction to the piano in elementary school, Mourad Tsimpou learned to play Chopin by ear at the age of 14. He practiced for hours on a self-service piano at the La Timone hospital where he stayed regularly because of his illness. Mourad had “perfect pitch, he played without sheet music”explains Salim Lebghil.
Lightning career
Then one day, in 2018, a passerby filmed him playing at Timone Hospital, and the video « buzz ». Mourad is offered a piano and people call him to play, as he explains in a report: “There are people who tell me: it’s good, it’s beautiful. And sometimes I give my number to people to come and play them songs”.
It was the start of a whirlwind career, two albums, a third in preparation. He collaborated with André Manoukian, the rap star Soprano and for example performed at the Top 14 rugby final in 2021 by playing The Marseillaise.
Mourad Tsimpoul will be buried in the Comoros, where his family is from.
