Raphaël Pichon

Raphaël Pichon (born in 1984 in Paris) is a French countertenor, choral conductor and 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 Versailles Conservatory before joining the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied singing and conducting. First of all a countertenor, he sang under the direction of Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Laurence Equilbey, Paul Agnew, Jean Tubéry, Vincent Dumestre, Bruno Boterf, Michel Laplénie and Sébastien d'Hérin. He also collabored with Benjamin Lazar and Gabriel Garrido.

In 2006, during his studies at the Paris Conservatory, Raphaël Pichon created the "ensemble Pygmalion", dedicated to the repertoire on period instruments. Very quickly, their recordings received a very favourable reception from the critics: Missæ Breves, BWV 234 and 235 by Jean-Sébastien Bach, 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 Jean-Sébastien Bach was rewarded by the magazine Télérama. In 2015, appeared a remarkable version of Castor et Pollux by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

The Pygmalion ensemble is now associated with the Opéra de Bordeaux, where it performed Dardanus by Rameau, in a staged production by Michel Fau.

Raphaël Pichon has also directed the chamber choir "OTrente", turned towards the romantic and contemporary repertoire.

External links

• Portrait of Raphaël Pichon on Télérama
• 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