Raphaël Pichon (born in 1984 in Paris) is a French countertenor, choral and orchestral conductor.

Biography

Raphaël Pichon was a member of the Maîtrise des Petits chanteurs de Versailles during his childhood. He then studied violin and piano at the before joining the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, where he studied singing and conducting. First of all a countertenor, he sang under the direction of

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orches ...

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

, Gustav Leonhardt, Laurence Equilbey,

Paul Agnew Paul Agnew (born 1964 in Glasgow) is a Scottish operatic tenor and conductor. Biography Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with various groups specializing in early music (Ex Cathedra, the ...

, Jean Tubéry, Vincent Dumestre, Bruno Boterf, Michel Laplénie and

Sébastien d'Hérin Sébastien d'Hérin is a French harpsichordist and conductor. As a harpsichordist he studied under Gustav Leonhardt, Pierre Hantaï, Bob van Asperen, Kenneth Gilbert and Christophe Rousset. He founded his own ensemble, Les Nouveaux Caractères in ...

. He also collaborated with and

Gabriel Garrido Gabriel Garrido is an Argentinian conductor specialising in Italian baroque and the recovery of the baroque musical heritage of Latin America. Garrido was born 1950 in Buenos Aires, and at the age of 17 with the Argentine recorder quartet, Pro Arte ...

. In 2006, during his studies at the Paris Conservatory, Raphaël Pichon created the "

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...

Pygmalion", dedicated to the repertoire on period instruments. Very quickly, their recordings received a very favourable reception from the critics: an album of mass compositions by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

( ''Missæ Breves'', BWV 234 and 235) in 2008, was awarded a golden Diapason, and an Editor's Choice of the British magazine ''Gramophone''. In September 2012, their third album, ''Missa'', a recording of the first version of the '' Mass in B minor'' by Bach was rewarded by the magazine ''

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic Desautez is de ...

''. Raphaël Pichon has also directed the chamber choir "OTrente",Chœur de chambre
on OTrente turned towards the romantic and contemporary repertoire.

Opera

A recording of ''Dardanus'' by Jean-Philippe Rameau appeared in 2013. In 2015, appeared a live recording of Rameau's ''

Castor et Pollux ''Castor et Pollux'' (''Castor and Pollux'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard ...

''. (subscription required) Also in 2015 Pygmalion performed ''Dardanus'' at the Opéra de Bordeaux in a staged production by Michel Fau.

References

External links

Portrait of Raphaël Pichon
on ''

''
Raphaël Pichon : sacré chef d’orchestre !
on Télérama
Raphaël Pichon
on Rayfieldallied.com
Raphaël Pichon : ''La musique classique n'a rien de raisonnable''
on Télérama {{DEFAULTSORT:Pichon, Raphaël 1984 births Musicians from Paris Living people Conservatoire de Paris alumni French countertenors French choral conductors French male conductors (music) French performers of early music Founders of early music ensembles 21st-century French singers 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male singers Harmonia Mundi artists