Introduced to the piano by his father, a pianist and conductor, Pierre Chalmeau began his musical education at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where in 2002 he was awarded the first prize for piano and chamber music. He studied piano under Billy Eidi, Chantal Fraysse and Brigitte Boutinon-Dumas, chamber music under Paul Boufil, and orchestration and musical analysis under Alain Louvier. During his studies, he also received guidance from pianists Pascal Nemirovski and Ventsislav Yankoff.

Admitted by unanimous decision to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon into the class of Edson Elias and Thierry Rosbach, he graduated in 2008 summa cum laude, again by unanimous decision of the jury. While studying in Lyon, he also took courses in chamber music with Franck Krawczyk and Jacques Aboulker, together with Carjez Gerretsen, clarinettist. In the year following his graduation, he furthered his studies at the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels under Aleksandar Madzar.

Chalmeau distinguished himself at the Maria Canals and Teresa Llacuna Competitions in 2009, the Premio Jaén in 2010, the International Johannes Brahms Competition in 2010 and the Vittorio Gui Competition in 2011. Over the course of master classes and academies, he has benefitted from the teaching of Jean-Claude Pennetier. He is currently furthering his studies with Thierry Rosbach and receives regular guidance from Tatiana Zelikman.