Patrick Gallois, flute, direction

Patrick Gallois belongs to that generation of French musicians who is recognized and acclaimed internationally both as a soloist and as a conductor. As a pupil of Jean-Perre Rampal in the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique, at the age of 17 he was appointed solo flautist in the National Orchestra of Lille, then at 21 years old, solo flautist of the National Orchestra of France under the baton of Lorin Maazel. He remained there for seven years and recorded with the most well-known conductors from Pierre Boulez to Seiji Ozawa. During this period, he studied under Leonard Bernstein and Sergiu Celibidache. In 1984 he left the orchestra to begin an international career.

He recorded first for JVC in Japan where he was invited for annual tours of five weeks and more. After recording the Mozart concertos which obtained a Golden CD in Japan – more than 100,000 CDs sold in one year – he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.

From then on his career took a new dimension and he signed a contract with Naxos record company. He has a very broad repertory as a flautist and conductor with a very distinct taste in contemporary music with many works dedicated to himself personally.

As Artistic Director of Sinfonia Finlandia Jyvaskyla for nine years, he recorded more than 40 CDs of which 25 as conductor, beginning with five CDs of Haydn’s first symphonies up to the music of Maurizio Kael and Peteri Vasks as well as Charles Gounod’s symphonies.

In 2014 the first CD of a series of recordings of Massenet’s ballets with the Symphonic Orchestra of Barcelona was produced and he began recording the Mozart piano concertos with Idil Biret and the London Mozart Players in December 2014.

His career as conductor does not prevent him being an active flautist: he plays regularly in New York, London and Paris. He is currently recording all of the 12 concertos of François Devienne with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra as well as the six concertos of Mercadante.