Artistic and musical director
Conductor, soloist, composer, teacher: Jean-François Verdier has been hailed by critics as "an extraordinary talent" and "a first-rate performer".
Considered one of Europe's finest clarinetists, he has won several international competitions in various disciplines (Tokyo, Vienna, Antwerp, Colmar and Lugano). He has performed under the baton of Bernstein, Ozawa, Muti, Gergiev, Salonen, Boulez, Jordan, Dohnanyi, Barenboim, Dudamel, Nelsons... He is also a guest of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Winner of the Bruno Walter Prize at the Lugano International Conductors' Competition in 2001, he is assistant to Philippe Jordan in Vienna and to Kent Nagano, and resident conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon (2008-10).
Since 2010, he has been artistic director of the Orchestre Victor Hugo, an orchestra that is now recognized and on the rise, with whom he has recorded several award-winning discs (two Chocs Classica, Choc Jazz, Diamant d'Opéra Magazine...) a film with soprano Renée Fleming, and several CD books for children.
He is in demand on the major international stages: Opéra national de Paris (for which he has conducted over 70 performances and shot two musical films for the cinema), Munich, Tokyo, Vienna, Madrid, Montreal, Lausanne, Luxembourg, Berne, Brussels, Mexico City, Salerno, Nagoya, Bolshoi Moscow... He is also a guest of the main French orchestras, national operas and festivals.
He collaborates with Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Ludovic Tézier, Sandrine Piau, Piotr Beczala, Isabelle Faust, Sergei Nakariakov, Anne Queffélec, Nemanja Radulovic, François Leleux... He is a member of the jury of international competitions alongside Leonard Slatkin, Jorma Panula, Marin Alsop and Dennis Russel-Davies.
He has composed musical tales and two mini-operas for children: his works have been performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bavarian Radio Munich, Dessau Opera, Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Rouen, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Metz, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, etc.