Jean-Pierre Wallez (born 18 March 1939) is a French

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Career

Wallez was born in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. He graduated in first place in violin and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

at the

Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

. He won the highest prize of the 1960

Paganini Competition The Paganini Competition (aka Premio Paganini or Paganini Concore) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso and founder of contemporary violin technique Niccolò Paganini. Created in 1954 it has been carried out ever s ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

after winning three lesser prizes in previous years. Wallez was laureate of the International Competition in Geneva, as well as of the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris. He was the first solo-violin of the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

from 1975 to 1977. At the same time, from 1968 to 1983, he was the leader of the Ensemble Instrumental de France, touring extensively. While doing this, he continued his career as a soloist; he played with the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

, the Orchestre de Paris,

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

and

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

, the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

, the

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (; ; literal English translation: Helsinki City Orchestra; commonly abbreviated as HPO) is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic Orchestra was the first p ...

, the

New Japan Philharmonic The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. From 2003 to 2013 its music director ...

, and the

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra was founded as the ''New Symphony Orchestr ...

in Tokyo. He also played with

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish- Mexican violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname ...

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. Rampal popularised the flute in the post–World War II years, recovering flute compositions from the Baroque era, and spurring contemporary composers, ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 1926 – 11 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropo ...

Aldo Ciccolini Aldo Ciccolini (; 15 August 1925 – 1 February 2015) was an Italian pianist who became a naturalized French citizen in 1971. Biography Aldo Ciccolini was born in Naples. His father, whose family bore the title of Marquis in the city of Macera ...

Paul Badura-Skoda Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist. Career A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed w ...

, and

Pierre Barbizet Pierre Barbizet (20 September 1922 – 19 January 1990) was a 20th-century Chilean pianist. Barbizet was born in Arica, Chile and studied at the Marseille Conservatory. He later returned to the institution as its director. Barbizet died in Marse ...

. Wallez studied conducting with

Pierre Dervaux Pierre Dervaux (born 3 January 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died 20 February 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor (music), conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and ha ...

and then with

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; ; 13 August 1996) was a Romanian people, Romanian Conducting, conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over fi ...

. He was the artistic director of the Festival de Musique d'Albi from its creation in 1974 to its end in 1990. Most of the productions were recorded and broadcast on television. In 1978, Wallez created the chamber orchestra

Ensemble orchestral de Paris The Orchestre de chambre de Paris (OCP) is a French chamber orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra performs throughout Paris with concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris, where it is a resident ensemble, and also at such venues as the Théâtre des ...

which toured Europe, South America, and Japan. The concerts included Bach, contemporary composers, symphonic works, chamber music, and a work with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

and the Ensemble InterContemporain. In 1986, Wallez left the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. He became the first guest conductor of the

Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie The Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie () is a Belgian chamber orchestra based in Mons. History The Orchestra was founded in 1958 by the violinist Lola Bobesco and its leadership was entrusted successively to the concertmasters Philippe Hirsc ...

in Belgium from 1987 to 1990, and of the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester in Denmark from 1990 to 1993. He was the musical director of the Örebro Chamber Orchestra in Sweden from 1992 to 1995. From 1994 to the end of 2000, he was the principal guest conductor of the

Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa The is a professional chamber orchestra, founded in 1988, based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, and is a full member of the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras. The orchestra's home is Ishikawa Ongakudō (Ishikawa Music Hall). ...

in Japan. In 1996, he was also the first guest conductor of the

Pasdeloup Orchestra The Pasdeloup Orchestra (also referred to as Orchestre des Concerts Pasdeloup) is the oldest symphony orchestra in France. History Founded in 1861 by Jules Pasdeloup with the name Concerts Populaires, it is the oldest orchestra still in existe ...

in Paris. His repertoire includes operas by Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, Berlioz, Gounod, Britten, Offenbach. Wallez recorded for Decca, EMI, CBS, Erato, Forlane, Ades and received awards for them, including the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

for the violin concertos by

Jean-Marie Leclair Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder) (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764) was a French Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. His brothers, the lesser-known Jean-Marie ...

, the ''Russian Concerto'' and the Concerto in F by

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that re ...

, and a

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for the Vivaldi '' Four Seasons'' with the Ensemble orchestral de Paris. He teaches violin at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Geneva (virtuosity class) and tutors children aged 3 to 7 through the association he created, la Maison Internationale du Violon. Wallez is the artistic adviser of the Septembre Musical de l'Orne a festival in Normandy. Wallez is Chevalier de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, Officier dans l'

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

,"Cérémonie de remise de décoration"
Ministre de la culture et de la communication (26 May 2003) Officier des Arts et Lettres, and received the Médaille de Vermeil (bronze) from the City of Paris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallez, Jean-Pierre Swiss conductors (music) Swiss classical violinists 20th-century French violinists 20th-century French male musicians French male classical violinists French male conductors (music) Paganini Competition prize-winners Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Living people 1939 births Musicians from Lille French emigrants to Switzerland Naturalised citizens of Switzerland 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French violinists 21st-century French male musicians Concertmasters Players of the Orchestre de Paris