Nicolas Baldeyrou

Nicolas Baldeyrou began learning the clarinet at the age of 8. He successively studied at the Conservatoire Municipal du Kremlin-Bicêtre (under Pierre Billaud), at the Conservatoire de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (under Véronique Fèvre), before going on to attend, at the age of 14, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris (under Michel Arrignon and Jérôme Julien-Laferrière). Before beginning his advanced-level study cycle, he was unanimously awarded both first prize in clarinet (the special Léon Leblanc prize), as well as first prize in bass clarinet (under Jean-Noël Crocq).

Following his studies, he won three major competitions: the prestigious ARD Competition (Munich) in 1998, the Dos Hermanas International Competition (Spain) in 1999, and the ICA Young Artist Competition (USA) in 2001. He has also won numerous international competitions, including the Carl Nielsen (Odense), Jeunesses Musicales (Bucharest), the Révélations de l'Adami, the Natixis Foundation, the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award, as well as the highly prestigious "Rising Star" program award in 2004.

After successively being principal clarinet with the European Union Youth Orchestra – where he rubbed shoulders with Bernard Haitink, Carlo Maria Giulini and Sir Colin Davis – then with Claudio Abbado's Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre national de France, conducted by Kurt Masur, he now devotes himself to a triple career as soloist, teacher and orchestral musician with the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, where he was appointed 1st principal clarinet in 2011.

In 2006, he also started teaching at Lyon's Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse.

Nicolas Baldeyrou is now considered one of the new generation's most prominent clarinetists. As a regular guest soloist with numerous prestigious orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the Tokyo, Prague and St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Sofia Symphony Orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France, the Orchestre d’Auvergne, and the Orchestre de Cannes-Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, he is called upon to give recitals at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, as well as at venues in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mexico.

This does not mean he has in any way forgotten chamber music. He partners regularly with Bertrand Chamayou, Svetlin Roussev, Antoine Tamestit, Marc Coppey, François Salque, Henri Demarquette, Alexis Descharmes, Nora Cismondi, Alexeï Ogrintchouk, David Walter, David Guerrier, and Julien Hardy, as well as the Quintette Moraguès, and the Ébène, Modigliani, Psophos, Ysaÿe, Aviv, Carmina, Minguet, Talich and Vogler quartets, among others. Nicolas Baldeyrou is actively involved in cultivating the music of his time.

In 2003, both Éric Tanguy and Jacques Lenot dedicated compositions to him, "Capriccio for Solo Clarinet" and "Tormentoso", respectively. Moreover, Baldeyrou has also collaborated with numerous contemporary music ensembles, including 2E2M, Court-Circuit, TM+, Alternance, Ars Nova, and Sillage.

His passion for exploring new repertoires and his desire for authenticity in his performances has naturally led him to take an interest in historical clarinets. He is regularly invited by conductors to perform: by Marc Minkowski, to play in the orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre; by Emmanuelle Haïm, in the ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée; and by Emmanuel Krivine, in the Chambre Philharmonique. Nicolas works as a tester for Buffet Crampon, helping to further the instrument's development, and enhance the reputation of the Ecole Française around the world.