Pascal Rophé (born 16 June 1960) is a French

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

. He is currently music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire.

Biography

Born in Paris, Rophé studied as early as 1974 at the Conservatoire de Paris, first studying the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. He won second prize in a competition of young conductors at the

Besançon International Music Festival The Besançon International Music Festival (french: Festival de musique de Besançon Franche-Comté) is one of the oldest festivals of classical music that takes place in the city of Besançon, northeastern France, over two weeks from around the mi ...

in 1988. From 1992, Rophé worked with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 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 Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

and David Robertson within the ensemble intercontemporain. On 19 May 1998, Rophé conducted the premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino's opera ''

Luci mie traditrici ''Luci mie traditrici'' (My Traitorous Eyes) is an opera in two acts by Salvatore Sciarrino, who also wrote the libretto. It was first performed under the German title ''Die tödliche Blume'' (''The Deadly Flower'') on 19 May 1998 in the Schlosst ...

'' at the Schwetzingen Festival. His 2002 recording of Thierry Escaich's ''Concerto pour orgue'' with organist Olivier Latry won the Diapason d'Or de l'Année award. Also in 2002, he recorded ''Intrada'' by Éric Tanguy with the Orchestre national de France during the Festival "Présences 99" (2002). He conducted in 2005 the premiere of Michael Mantler's ''Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone'' with the hr-Sinfonieorchester. From 2006 to 2009, Rophé was musical director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège. In 2011, he premiered ''Akhmatova'', (based on the life of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova),

Bruno Mantovani Bruno Mantovani (born 8 October 1974) is a French composer. He has been awarded first prizes from the Conservatoire de Paris which he joined in 1993. His work has been commissioned by the French government as well as other organizations. In Septe ...

's last opera, at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

. He conducted ''Phosphor'', a concerto for percussion and orchestra by

Johannes Schöllhorn Johannes Schöllhorn (born 30 June 1962) is a contemporary German composer. Born in Murnau am Staffelsee, Schöllhorn grew up in Marktoberdorf. He studied musical composition with Klaus Huber, Emmanuel Nunes and Mathias Spahlinger and music the ...

, played by its dedicatee

Pascal Pons Pascal Pons, born on 9 November 1968 in Nice, is a French percussionist. Biography A specialist in contemporary repertoire, French percussionist Pascal Pons has worked in close collaboration with several composers. Dedicatee of “Phosphor”, a c ...

, in October 2006 for the French premiere at the Musica Festival in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

and the Belgian premiere in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. They recorded in 2007 '' Tout un monde lointain...'' for cello and orchestra by Henri Dutilleux, with soloist

Marc Coppey Marc Coppey (born 1969 in Strasbourg) is a French contemporary classical cellist. Biography In 1988 at the age of 18, Marc Coppey won the two highest prizes of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition: the first prize and the special ...

. In September 2014, Rophé became music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire (ONPL). In 2016, for the centenary of Henri Dutilleux, he recorded with the ONPL works by Dutilleux, and also conducted the BBC's ''Total Immersion Day: the Magical Soundworld of Henri Dutilleux''. Rophé was re-appointed as orchestra director in 2017 for an additional three years. Rophé is scheduled to stand down as music director of the ONPL at the close of the 2021-2022 season. Rophé's other work in contemporary music has included the 10 March 2017 premiere with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France the second symphony ''Âme'' ("soul") by Philippe Schoeller, written on a commission by Radio France.

Biography

References

External links