“Zidane of the piano”: Mourad, a young pianist prodigy from a city in Marseille, died at the age of 19

Mourad Tsimpou, young piano prodigy known under the stage name Mourad, died on Saturday June 29 at the age of 19 from a long illness, one of his managers announced to AFP.

He died Saturday morning at Necker, the children’s hospital in Paris, following a rare liver disease (ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, OTC) from which he suffered since childhood, explained Salim Lebghil, one of the two executives of 1392 Records.

Absolute pitch

Mourad’s musical story began during yet another visit to the Marseille Timone hospital. Originally, like Zinedine Zidane, from the city of Castellane, in the northern districts of Marseille, he discovered a piano there, he who had never played one in his life. He was 14, listened to an impromptu Chopin on the Internet and reproduced it while improvising. Mourad had “absolute pitch, he played without a score”, explains Salim Lebghil. The scene was captured by another patient, who posted it on social networks, sparking incredible enthusiasm.

It was the start of a whirlwind career, two albums, a third in preparation. He collaborated with André Manoukian, the rap star Soprano and performed during the Top 14 rugby final in 2021 playing La Marseillaise or before an Olympique de Marseille match.

“His love for Marseille and OM”

“The blue and white people will remember a boy who expressed his love for Marseille and OM like no one else using his piano,” the Marseille football club reacted on X.

“Marseille pianist of genius. His unique playing, so young, impressed and moved us all,” tweeted Marseille mayor Benoît Payan. The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Renaud Muselier, said that “Mourad Tsimpou gave us the grace of rare and fraternal moments.” He will be buried in the Comoros, where his family is from.

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With AFP