Jean-François Monnard

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Jean-François Monnard (born November 4, 1941 in Lausanne ) is a Swiss conductor and general music director .

Live and act

Monnard spent his youth in Payerne , where he graduated from school. He then began to study law at the University of Lausanne , which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1964 . However, his passion was classical music from early childhood and he began learning to play the piano at the age of eight. In addition to his law studies, Monnard studied organ, double bass and music theory at the Friborg Conservatory and moved to the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen in 1964 , where he studied conducting with Heinz Dressel and music theory with Krzysztof Penderecki . He also attended international contemporary music courses in Darmstadt and master classes with Jean Fournet in Hilversum, among others . In 1968 Monnard completed his studies with a diploma in conducting in Essen.

After winning a competition organized by the Tonhallen-Orchester Zürich in 1970, he was engaged as a guest conductor throughout Europe, the USA and Taiwan. In 1981 he received his first long contract at the Aachen Theater , where he was initially taken on as Kapellmeister and from 1983 to 1984, during the vacancy of the General Music Director, as Chief Musical Director (acting Music Director). From 1985 to 1988, Monnard temporarily took over the position of first conductor and music director at the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra , before he finally worked from 1988 to 1999 as general music director of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra at the Osnabrück Theater . In between, he took on various opera productions as a guest conductor, including in Bordeaux , Catania , Leipzig , Dortmund and Stockholm , and led several renowned orchestras in Europe, including the Tonhallen-Orchester Zürich, the Berner Symphonieorchester and the Orchester de la Suisse Romande .

Due to a hearing problem, Monnard withdrew from active musical direction in 1998 and switched to administrative and advisory positions. First, from 1998 to 2007 he took on the role of program director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and from 2007 to 2012 he was deputy director of the “September Musical Montreux Vevey” and from 2009 to 2012 he was also the director of artistic planning at the Grand Théâtre de Genève . In 2012, he also curated the exhibition at Chillon Castle on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the composer and conductor Igor Markevitch and was also acting artistic advisor for the Orchester de la Suisse Romande for a few months.

Furthermore, Monnard regularly participates as a member of various competition juries and writes specialist articles for radio broadcasts, newspapers and magazines and shows himself to be a profound expert on the works of Maurice Ravel .

Publications (selection)

  • New critical edition of the symphonic works by Maurice Ravel , 10 volumes, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden, 2008 to 2014
  • The Amazing Fate of Igor Markevitch , booklet accompanying the 2012 exhibition at Chillon Castle

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of publications on worldcat.org
  2. ↑ The Amazing Fate of Igor Markevitch, booklet accompanying the 2012 exhibition at Chillon Castle
personal data
SURNAME Monnard, Jean-François
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss conductor and general music director
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Lausanne