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The French-Swiss cellist, Ophélie Gaillard, trained at the Paris Conservatory (CNSM), where she was awarded three premiers prix: for chamber music in Maurice Bourgue’s class, for cello in Philippe Muller’s class (she subsequently followed a series of advanced classes with the same teacher), and for Baroque cello with Christophe Coin. She also has a teaching diploma (cello) and a degree in musicology from the Sorbonne. She has been teaching since 2000.
Voted ‘Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the French Classical Music Awards (Victoires) in 2003, the Ophélie Gaillard soon distinguished herself as a versatile musician, performing with equal passion music of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary periods. The winner of several international competitions, notably the J.S. Bach International Cello Competition in Leipzig, she gives recitals in the world’s great concert halls and champions the solo cello repertoire, from J.S. Bach's Suites to works by Benjamin Britten, Henri Dutilleux, Crumb and the composers of the younger generation.
Ophélie Gaillard makes solo appearances with the Orchestre de Cannes- Provence- Alpes Côte d’Azur, Polish Radio Orchestra (conductor Gabriel Chmura), Orchestre de Picardie (Edmon Colomer), European Camerata, orchestra Les Siècles, Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, and Japan Philarmonic Orchestra.
Ophélie Gaillard appears at various major festivals (such as Saint-Denis, Quimper, Messiaen at La Meige, Orangerie de Sceaux, Sablé-sur-Sarthe, Beaune, Evian, Montreux, Festival Bach de Lausanne, October in Normandy, Reims Flâneries Musicales,Toroella de Montgri) and at theatres including those of Bordeaux, Avignon, Poissy and Paris (Châtelet). She regularly gives recitals and master-classes in Japan and Korea, Latin and Central America and Canada.
Keenly interested in early music, Ophélie Gaillard has often taken part in Baroque vocal works directed by Christophe Rousset and Emmanuelle Haïm. She also founded the ensemble Amarillis, and has played in this group for 10 years. In 2005 Ophélie Gaillard created Pulcinella, a chamber ensemble composed of some of the finest soloists, with which she explores the vast repertoire of concerted cello works. Their recording of the Vivaldi complete cello sonatas were acclaimed by the international press. She also likes to combine different artistic disciplines; she works with dancers such as Daniel Larrieu and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Her recordings for Ambroisie of J.S. Bach’s complete Cello Suites, those of Benjamin Britten and his Cello Sonata with the pianist Vanessa Wagner were highly acclaimed by the international press (Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Répertoire, Scherzo, Goldberg, Crescendo ...). Her recent recording of Fauré's works for cello and piano, with Bruno Fontaine, was singled out by The Strad Magazine. She also records for radio (France Musique, BBC Radio 3) and television (France 2, Mezzo, Arte).
Ophélie Gaillard plays a cello made by Francesco Goffriller in 1737, loaned to her by the
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