Julien Masmondet

A daring conductor and a curious artist, Julien Masmondet is constantly on the lookout for new artistic experiences. He is regularly invited to collaborate with leading orchestras in France and abroad – in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Quebec, Vienna, Moscow, Riga, Prague, Lausanne, Liège, Naples, and Verona. His experience as assistant conductor of the Orchestre de Paris with Paavo Järvi has also enabled him to perform in internationally renowned concert halls and to expand his repertoire through contact with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Louis Langrée, Christoph von Dohnányi, David Zinman, and Bertrand de Billy. Hailed for his instinctive musicality, his energy, and his ability to inspire musicians, Julien Masmondet is recognised as an adventurous conductor and a bold interpreter of contemporary music: he regularly commissions and premieres works by today’s composers, while developing innovative concert formats and taking on unusual venues to attract new audiences. As part of this creative dynamic, in 2018 he founded the ensemble Les Apaches! with whom he establishes a constant dialogue between modern creation and historical works. He enriches each new project through collaborations with visual artists, directors, actors, choreographers, virtual reality artists, and writers. These unique shows are created in partnership with venues such as the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as well as during artistic residencies at the Fondation Singer-Polignac, the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, and the Fondation Royaumont. Julien Masmondet has made several recordings conducting the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. With Les Apaches!, he recorded the original version of Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé for B Records, which won numerous awards (Diapason d’Or, Choc Classica, The Times). He teaches at the École Normale de Musique-Alfred Cortot in Paris, where he himself studied under Dominique Rouits. He upholds the tradition of the French school of conducting established by masters such as Charles Munch, Jean Fournet, and Pierre Dervaux. He also participates in conducting sessions at the CNSMD Conservatory in Lyon and gives masterclasses in French music abroad.