Pierre Bensusan Live! - The Platform @ Chalfonte Theatre

Doors at 6 PM Show at 7 PM. The Chalfonte Theatre is proud to present a rare Northern Michigan performance by world-renowned guitarist, singer, and composer Pierre Bensusan on Thursday, August 28, 2025. This special 90-minute concert, A Parisian Night of Music, will take place on The Platform at the historic Chalfonte Theatre (Elk Rapids Cinema). The evening will feature two captivating 45-minute sets from one of the most unique and brilliant acoustic guitarists in the world music scene.

From the streets of Paris to concert halls across the globe, Pierre Bensusan’s artistry has been described as “the way the guitar would want to sound if it played itself.” His music defies easy categorization, seamlessly weaving elements of world, classical, jazz, folk, and traditional music into a breathtaking sonic tapestry. Winner of the Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance Album, the “Rose d'Or” at the Montreux Festival, and voted “Best World Music Guitar Player” by Guitar Player Magazine readers, Bensusan is celebrated internationally for his virtuosity, warmth, and spirit of improvisation.

Born in French-Algeria and raised in Paris, Bensusan began on piano at age seven before teaching himself guitar at eleven. At just seventeen, he signed his first recording contract, and his debut album Près de Paris went on to win the Grand Prix du Disque. Over decades of touring, his performances have become renowned for their beauty, depth, and ability to transport audiences—what one critic described as “an entrancing, almost hypnotic thing to watch and hear… as if you’ve been to temple and left purified.”