Born in Paris, Benoît Willmann studied conducting while continuing his career as a performer (as a clarinetist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and a professor at the Geneva University of Music) and earned his degree from the Geneva University of Music.
Equally at ease accompanying dancers (the Studio Flay Ballet in Geneva), choirs (Horizon, Opérami, the Orphée vocal ensemble), and soloists (Sonya Yoncheva, Gautier Capuçon, Joel Marosi, Carine Sechaye, Svetlin Roussev, Philippe Cassard, François Guye, etc.), he has also premiered numerous works by young composers and assisted many conductors, including Armin Jordan, Stephan Asbury, Fabio Luisi, Klaus Weise, and Jurjen Hempe.
Benoit Willmann has conducted the Geneva Sinfonietta, where he served as artistic director until 2018; the Geneva HEM Orchestra for composition and orchestration classes; the Rhône Orchestra; the Camerata du Leman; the Royal Wallonia Opera Orchestra; the Biel Symphony Orchestra, the Cairo Opera Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia—with which he inaugurated the Year of France in Brazil—the Fanfare du Loup, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Contrechamps Ensemble, the 2E2M Ensemble, the Victor Hugo Franche-Comté Orchestra, the Lemanic Modern Ensemble, and he collaborated for several years with the Youth Orchestra of Bahia.
In another area, Benoit Willmann has made a significant contribution to the training of young musicians by establishing, in collaboration with the Geneva Sinfonietta, a one-year scholarship for four students from the Geneva University of Music and Performing Arts (HEM), in the form of an annual orchestra competition. More than 60% of former scholarship recipients currently hold positions in orchestras.
He is also very interested in theater and has collaborated with director Omar Porras on Stravinsky’s *The Soldier’s Tale*. He conducted the Swiss premiere of Donizetti’s Dom Sebastien, King of Portugal, as well as Don Pasquale, Puccini’s La Bohème, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Aida, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
Since 2018, Benoit Willmann has collaborated with the Victor Hugo Franche-Comté Orchestra, the Cannes Alpes Provence Côte d’Azur Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and the Operami Ensemble.