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Yvonnick Prene
Harmonica Player, Composer
About Me
“Yvonnick Prene is skilled and talented without a doubt but there is a depth to him that
calls to the depths within the listener. It is no wonder that he is in such
demand.”JazzTimes
“Virtuoso Harmonica Player” Down Beat
“The most beautiful music I have ever heard on harmonica” Lee Konitz
“A rising star” Dan Bilansky, All About Jazz
Born in Paris, he began as a guitarist, later switching to the diatonic harmonica, and
eventually settling on the chromatic harmonica as his primary instrument. He first
began playing the harmonica professionally in Parisian clubs at 17, then started his
studies at Sorbonne University, from which he received a master's degree in music
(2011). While still enrolled at the Sorbonne, Prené relocated to New York City and was
awarded multiple full-tuition scholarships at The City College of New York, (MICEFA,
2007), Columbia University (Alliance Program, 2008) and at the New School for Jazz
and Contemporary Music (Merit-Based Scholarship, 2009) where he had the
opportunity to study with Lee Konitz and Reggie Workman among others. In 20011-
2012 he earned a BA from The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music and Master
degree from Sorbonne University.
He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists, including Donald Brown,
Klingande, Romeo Santos, Peter Bernstein, Scott Tixier, Gene Bertoncini, Rich Perry,
Steve Cardenas, Jon Cowherd, Vic Juris,Nate Smith, Ira Coleman, Thomas Enhco,
Luques Curtis, Eric Lewis, Justin Brown, Jerome Barde, Lorin Cohen, Mike Moreno, Avi
Rothebard, Jared Gold, Anthony Wonsey, Clovis Nicholas, Laurent Cugny, Alexandre
Tassel, Dana Hall, Gilad Hekselman, Jon Davis, Krystle Warren, Yaron Herman, Laurent
de Wilde, Ryan Cohan, Victor Provost among many others. Yvonnick has played at Blue
Note Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club at the Iridium Jazz Club, The Jazz Gallery at Birdland
(New York jazz club) at Bern Jazz Festival, Festival Emoi du Jazz (Côte d'Ivoire),
Lamentin Jazz Festival, Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, at Jazz in Marciac, Hyde Park Jazz
Festival (Chicago), Sidedoor Jazz Club, Jazz Gallery, Jazz on Ubaye, Jazz Sur Seine
Festival, at Le Duc des Lombards.
Yvonnick is the founder of New York Harmonica School, author of 13 books and
bandleader of The Yvonnick Prene Quartet and Padam Swing. He is currently based in
Manhattan, New York City.