Born in Brest, a coastal town in Brittany, on 23 June 1970, Yann Tiersen grew up in Brittany's 'cultural capital', Rennes. Yann proved to have little aptitude for schoolwork, but he soon turned out to be a star pupil at the local Conservatoire where he studied violin and piano between the ages of 6 and 14 and later went on to train as a conductor.

Despite the classical training in his formative years, Yann underwent a radical change of musical direction in his teens, becoming closely involved with the rock world. Rennes was a thriving hotbed of alternative musical talent in the early 80s and Yann was soon in much demand. Influenced by the music of Joy Division and other post-punk bands, Yann honed his musical skills playing with several different bands on the local rock scene. Meanwhile, he turned his hand to composing, writing soundtracks for short films and musical accompaniment for plays. Yann's early compositions, which combined classical influences and a startling variety of different instruments, were already stamped with his distinctive personal style.

Yann went on to record his debut album in 1995. Entitled "la Valse des monstres", this first opus featured many of the pieces he had written for theatre and cinema. Sadly, this first album failed to take off with the French public and received mitigated reviews from music critics, as did his second album, "Rue des cascades", released the following year. While Tiersen's work remained largely ignored by mainstream music fans and the critics, the budding young musician was building an excellent reputation on the local music scene in Rennes however.

In December '95 Tiersen brought the house down at the town's 'Transmusicales' festival, delighting music fans with his versatile, and highly energetic, live performance. In fact, Tiersen owed much of his growing popularity to the quality of his one-man shows, astounding audiences by switching from toy piano to percussion to xylophone, then playing a quick piece on the violin before shouldering his accordion. Tiersen seemed to play one continuous work during his concerts, jumping from folk to waltz to chanson influences as easily as he changed instruments. In fact, his shows had an almost theatrical air about them, which led to him being invited to perform at the Avignon Festival in July '96.

Tiersen returned to the studio two years later to begin work on his third album, "le Phare" (partly recorded on the Ile d'Ouessant, a small island off the Brittany coast). Released in 1998 this album scored a huge hit with French music fans, catapulting Tiersen into the musical mainstream at last. The single "Monochrome" (written by Dominique A) received extensive play on the French airwaves and, bowing to popular demand, Tiersen's record label went on to re-release his earlier work.

Tiersen's haunting compositions were soon in much demand in the film world. In fact, several leading directors used Tiersen's music in their soundtracks, including André Téchiné (in "Alice et Martin"). Most famously of all, Eric Zonca used "Rue des cascades" as the opening track to his acclaimed film "la Vie rêvée des anges" which went on to win the Cannes Film Festival.

In March '98 Tiersen brought the house down when he performed in Paris at the Café de la Danse. Following this success he embarked upon an extensive tour in December, which included a headlining appearance at the 'Transmusicales' in Rennes. Invited to perform a special concert as part of Bernard Lenoir's 'Black Sessions' (a music programme on Radio France Inter), Tiersen took to the stage with an impressive line-up of guest stars that included everyone from Françoiz Breut, Dominique A, Les Married Monk and Les Têtes Raides to Mathieu Boogaerts, Bertrand Cantat (the lead singer from Noir Désir) and UK music star Neil Hannon (aka Divine Comedy). The atmosphere of this exceptional concert was captured on the live album, "Black sessions", released later that year.

Riding high on the wave of success generated by "Le Phare", Tiersen went on to record a fourth album entitled "Tout est calme". Released on March 23rd 1999, the album catapulted straight into the media spotlight, establishing Tiersen as a promising new name on the French mainstream. "Tout est calme" (partly recorded in January in Tiersen's apartment in Paris's 20th arrondissement), branched off in a more rock'n'roll direction than his previous work and featured several interesting reworkings of earlier hits.

Tiersen hit the road again in the spring of '99 and gave a memorable performance in Paris at the Olympia on March 16th at the festival 'Les Jeux'. He returned to the studio in June of that year to take part in the recording of a fund-raising album for illegal immigrants with a temporary group of musicians known as the GISTI. Then, after a special appearance in Barcelona in September, Tiersen continued his hectic schedule flying out to Asia to tour Japan and Singapore. When he returned to Europe he headed up to Paris to bring the house down at Le Bataclan on December 13th.

Meanwhile, Tiersen had been busy in the studio, putting together a compilation featuring various artists which was released on his own label, Ici d'ailleurs, in October '99. (Tiersen had already put in a guest appearance on the hard rock band Bästard's album, "la Mancha", released on the same label in '98).

In April 2000 Tiersen headed across the Channel to perform in the UK for the first time, supporting legendary French chanson star Juliette Gréco when she appeared at the Barbican Centre in London. Tiersen returned to the studio to guest on Françoiz Breut's new album (released in the summer of 2000), then hit the road again on his own account in the autumn of that year.

2001 proved to be a veritable turning-point in Yann Tiersen's career. On April 10th the multi-talented musician released a new album entitled "L’Absente", which music critics promptly showered with rave reviews. And deservedly so, "L'Absente" was a musical masterpiece, combining Tiersen's ever more expressionist arrangements and haunting vocals courtesy of Dominique A ("Bagatelle"), British star Neil Hannon ("les Jours tristes"), American singer Lisa Germano ("la Parade", "le Méridien") and Natacha Régnier – the French actress who starred in Erick Zonca's award-winning film "La Vie rêve des Anges" (for which Tiersen, incidentally, contributed "la Rue des cascades" on the soundtrack). Régnier, who is Yann Tiersen's partner in real life, added her half-spoken, half-whispered vocals to Tiersen's on two tracks on his new album, "l’Echec" and "le Concert".

But the film which would really catapult Tiersen to overnight fame later that year was "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain". Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film scored a phenomenal hit at the French box-office and cinema-goers rushed to record stores to buy the soundtrack, composed by Tiersen. By July 2001 the soundtrack to "Amélie Poulain" had shot to the top of the French album charts, remaining at the no.1 spot for several weeks and selling 200,000 copies in the process. The album not only earned Tiersen two gold discs, it also gave him a broad new fanbase. Needless to say, thanks to the "Amélie Poulain" effect, Tiersen's own album, "l'Absente", went on to sell over 100,000 copies.

Meanwhile, Tiersen was kept increasingly busy on the live scene. The musician kicked off a major tour in April 2001, performing with a backing group of two female vocalists and a string ensemble (including William Sheller's first violin and cellist). Tiersen and his band brought the house down when they performed at the "Printemps de Bourges" festival on April 18th and caused another stir on June 21st playing in front of the French Houses at the annual "Fête de la musique". A few days after this concert Tiersen joined veteran French pop star Jacques Higelin on the esplanade outside the Hôtel de Ville in Paris to celebrate the centenary of the 1901 "Association" law. Tiersen kept up his hectic schedule over the summer, performing at a number of major music festivals including "Les Eurockéennes" in Belfort and "La Route du Rock" in St Malo in August. In the autumn of 2001 Tiersen embarked upon an extensive national tour, playing concerts in some fifteen different towns up and down the country and three dates in Paris at the Olympia (20, 21 and 22 November).

The tour ratcheted up a notch in 2002 with a performance at one of London's most prestigious venues, the Royal Albert Hall, on 5 February. Tiersen went on to appear at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, performing three exceptional concerts with l'Ensemble orchestral Synaxis conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne (15-17 February). These special concerts, which involved the presence of some 50 musicians on stage, were co-produced by the Cité de la Musique and the "Printemps de Bourges" festival (where Tiersen performed the show on 12 April).

Following this show, Yann Tiersen was able to release a live double CD in October 2002. Entitled ‘C’était Ici’, the album consisted of about thirty tracks, some of which featured performances by friends of the artist’s, such as les Têtes Raides and Dominique A, who had also taken part in the event.

Yann Tiersen kicked off 2003 recording the soundtrack of German director Wolfgang Becker's "Goodbye Lenin". The 18 tracks written by Tiersen were performed by the Synaxis ensemble (35 musicians conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne). The film came out in February in Germany and later in other countries, and was a major success across Europe.

While Yann Tiersen worked on demos for a more personal album, he met the Canadian artist Shannon Wright in early 2004. They discovered they had similar artistic sensibilities and decided to play together and work on a joint project. November saw the release of "Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright", the fruit of their collaboration, which they performed at Transmusicales festival in Rennes from December 3-5.

A long-awaited solo album finally hit the record stores in May 2005. Partly recorded on the Ile d'Ouessant off the coast of Brittany (as was his "Le phare"), the album, entitled "Les retrouvailles", found Tiersen returning to a more familiar musical world. For the vocals, he called on prestigious singers such as Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins), Jane Birkin (for "Plus d'hiver", a track which denounces a totally economically-driven society), Dominique A and Miossec as a trio for the song "Le jour de l'ouverture" and Tindersticks frontman Stuart Staples.

Tiersen quickly hit the road for a series of rock-oriented concerts, playing in France, Ireland, Japan and Spain – proving that his music knows no borders.

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Following his worldwide recognition for penning the soundtrack of ‘Amélie’, Yann Tiersen has gone on creating music in his own personal way. A versatile musician, the Breton artist has always shown a knack for composing timeless pieces, which appeal to an increasing number of fans.

June 2005