Maxime Pascal (born 9 September 1985 in

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

, Nantes, France) is a French conductor.

Biography

Born to musician parents, a jazz trombonist father and a pianist mother, Pascal began piano studies with his mother, and subsequently studied violin, in his youth in Carcassonne. In 2005, he began music studies at the

Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique The Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (; "National Academy of Dramatic Arts"; abbr. CNSAD) is France's national drama academy, located in Paris and a constituent college of University PSL. It is a higher education institution r ...

in Paris, in composition, musical analysis and orchestration classes. He then developed an interest in conducting, and enrolled in the conducting class of

François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor. Biography Roth is the son of the organist Daniel Roth—the two share the same first name. His brother Vincent is a violist. Before turning to conducting, he was a flauti ...

. In 2008, the ensemble Le Balcon, named after the play by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

and co-founded by Juan-Pablo Carreño, Mathieu Costecalde, Alphonse Cemin, Florent Derex Pascal, Pedro Garcia-Velasquez and Pascal, gave its first public performance. Also in 2008, Pascal became music director of the Parisian amateur ensemble ''Orchestre Impromptu'', Beginning in 2018, for the ensemble's tenth anniversary, Le Balcon and Pascal have become the first ensemble and conductor to embark on a projected complete cycle of live performances of the complete ''

Licht 275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . ''Licht'' (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week), is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen between 1977 and 2003. The compose ...

'' operas of

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, one opera per year. In October 2023, the

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Pascal as its next chief conductor, following five guest-conducting appearances with the ensemble. The initial appointment is for three years, effective August 2024.

Honours and awards

Pascal has been in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation since September 2010. The

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

awarded him the Simone and Cino del Duca Foundation Music Prize at the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

in November 2011 for the start of his career. Since 2012, Pascal has received support from the Orange Foundation. In March 2014, he was the first Frenchman to win the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award.

References

{{reflist

External links

L'Agence artist management French-language page on Maxime Pascal

HarrisonParrott agency page on Maxime Pascal

HarrisonParrott agency page on Le Balcon

Judith Chaine, 'Maxime Pascal, chef d'orchestre : grand entretien'. Radio France, September 2023 programme page
1985 births Living people 21st-century French conductors (music) French conductors (music)