| Biography | The French conductor and counter-tenor, Raphaël Pichon, sang as a child with the Maîtrise des Petits chanteurs de Versailles (conductor Jean-François Frémont), and studied violin and piano at the CNR de Versailles. Attracted rapidly by singing (counter-tenor) and conducting, he finished his studies at the CNSMDP and CNR Paris, with Kenneth Weiss and Howard Crook among others.
Raphaël Pichon's experiences led him to sing under the conductors Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Laurence Equilbey, Paul Agnew, Jean Tubéry, Vincent Dumestre, Bruno Boterf, Michel Laplénie or Sébastien d'Hérin. He is also a member of the Choeur de chambre les Cris de Paris (conductor: Geoffroy Jordan). Student Pierre Cao for choral conducting, he benefits also from the advice of Michel-Marc Gervais and Boris Tevlin, or Stéphane Cardon for orchestra conducting.
In 2005, Raphaël Pichon founded the Ensemble Pygmalion, orchestra and choir of young professionals dedicated to the repertoire for early instruments (supported by the Orange Foundation and the Ministry of Culture) and the chamber choir OTrente, with which he deals with the romantic and contemporary repertoire (supported by the Paris Municiplaity and the Caisse des Dépôts).
Raphaël Pichon made his stage debut as the Spirit in Didon et Enée at the opera of Rennes, directed by Benjamin Lazar in January 2006. He sang the role of Bussiride in the production of Ercole Amante by Cavalli at the Académie d'Ambronay under the direction of Gabriel Garrido, on tour in France.
Among his projects in 2007-2008, Raphaël Pichon takes part in the Monteverdi's Orfeo with the Concert des Nations conducted by Jordi Savall at the Opera de Bordeaux, cantatas by Bach conducted by Ton Koopman, Paul Agnew, the Stabat Mater of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi with Magali Léger, or Cadmus et Hermione by Lully with the Poème Harmonique (conductor: Vincent Dumestre) at the Opéra Comique de Pari and the Opéra de Rouen. Finally, created this summer at Festival dAix-en-Provence, he appears in Madrigals, spectacle around Monteverdi (conductor: Kenneth Weiss) on tour in 2008 at the Opéra de Bordeaux, and in the Giuditta by Alessandro Scarlatti (Nutrice) with the Ensemble Baroque de Nice (staging Gilbert Blin). On the invitation of Ton Koopman, he will will perform in recital at Festival Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord Vert, and with Suonare e Cantare on tour in Slovenia. |