Philippe Bernold (F)

Philippe Bernold, conductor

Philippe Bernold began his musical studies in Colmar, France, studying the flute and later conducting under René Matter, himself a student of Charles and Fritz Münch.He then attended the Paris Conservatory, where he earned the First prize in flute and the next year, at the age of 23, was appointed First flute of the National Opera Orchestra of Lyon.  In 1987 he won First Prize in the Jean-Pierre Rampal International Competition.

This award allowed him to start a career as a soloist, performing with world famous artists and orchestras such as: M. Rostropovitch, J.-P. Rampal, M. Nordmann, with Paris Orchestra, F. Liszt Orchestra of Budapest, Manchester Hallé Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, National Orchestra of Lyon, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra…,  he has been directed by S. Bychkov, J. E. Gardiner, L. Maazel, K. Nagano, Sir Y. Menuhin, M. Inoué, T. Koopman, in concert halls such as the Royal Festival Hall in London, Pleyel Hall and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Cologne Philharmonie, Warsaw Philharmonic, Châtelet Theater in Paris, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Seoul Art Center, Tchaïkovsky Conservatory in Moscow, as well as at the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Cannes, Evian, Strasbourg, and Radio France.

Philippe Bernold returned to conducting in 1994, founding “Les Virtuoses de l’Opéra de Lyon” with the encouragement of conductors John Elliot Gardner and Kent Nagano.  The ensemble quickly gained a reputation for its high level of artistry.

Bernold was then appointed assistant conductor of “Orchestre de Bretagne”, where he conducted twenty concerts during the 1999-2000 season.  Since then, he has been invited to conduct concerts with such ensembles as Sinfonia Varsovia touring in Lisbon, Bilbao, Valence, Nantes and Warsaw, the National Opera Orchestra of Lyon at the International Festival of Colmar (where he was conductor and soloist), Baden Baden Philharmonic, “Ensemble Orchestral de Paris”, Philharmonic Orchestra of Marseille, “Orchestre de Picardie”, “Orchestre d’Auvergne”, “Orchestre de Cannes”, “Bucheon Philharmonic (Seoul)”, San Remo Symphonic Orchestra, and Cappella Istropolitana, with whom he was the first invited conductor since 2003.  He has collaborated with such artists as M. Portal, L. Korcia, R. Capuçon, F. Say, S. Nakariakov and C. Tiberghien.. In 2008 and 2009 he began a collaboration with the orchestra of the Paris Conservatory, and made a recording with the “Ensemble Orchestral de Paris”. He recently directed the famous Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela.

On television (Mezzo), in 2008, Philippe Bernold conducted a complete Mozart program with the Sinfonia Varsovia and Alexei Ogrintchouk as a soloist.His first recording won the “Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros” in 1989.  Since then Philippe Bernold has made more than twenty recordings for Harmonia Mundi, EMI…  He has also made many recordings with pianist Alexandre Tharaud, which has received rave reviews. (“Choc” from Le Monde de la musique and “Diapason d’or” from Diapason).

Philippe Bernold is Professor of Chamber Music at the Paris Conservatory and Professor of Flute at the National Conservatory of Lyon.