Benjamin Pionnier
Conductor
Born in 1977, Benjamin Pionnier graduated from the Conservatoire National in Nice (France) in piano and chamber music. He also studied double-bass, singing, clarinet, harmony and counterpoint. After graduating, he continued studying with Brigitte Engerer, from the National Conservatory in Paris. He performed a lot as pianist and in chamber music in France and across Europe and the Middle-East.
He studied orchestral conducting in France before entering George Hurst's conducting classes in Great-Britain. He received a first prize in orchestral conducting with distinction. He is also laureate of the conducting competition in Manchester (Royal Northern College of Music). He was then chosen to participate in conducting master-classes across Europe.
Mr. Pionnier has assisted many famous conductors, most recently James Levine, who invited him to the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall.
He worked as repetiteur, vocal coach and assistant for many theaters, simultaneously to his career as pianist and accompanist. As pianist and conductor, Benjamin Pionnier takes part to many festivals: Pablo Casals Festival, Festival Messiaen, Monte-Carlo Spring Festival, Hong-Kong French May, Ambronay's Festival, Festival Manca, Festival Musiques au coeur, Festival Pierre Cardin, and Macao International Music Festival. He was Artistic Advisor for the Opera de Nice from 2006 to 2010.
He has conducted many operas, mainly in France, Europe and Asia, including works by Gounod, Rossini, Massenet, Offenbach, Mozart, Bizet, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Lehar, and Gluck. His operatic repertoire is varied and naturally includes the main French operas: Carmen, Manon, Les Contes d'Hoffman, Roméo et Juliette, The Pearl Fishers, Parisian Life, Werther, Faust, and Lakmé, as well as the Italian and German repertoire.
His wide repertoire also includes symphonic works from baroque to contemporary music. He has recently conducted with many distinctions: Così fan Tutte by Mozart and Parisian Life by Offenbach in Paris; Les Contes d'Hoffman by Offenbach in Singapore; Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck in Nice; Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini; and many concerts with French orchestras on a wide repertoire. He has also conducted Roméo et Juliette by Gounod at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow for the opening of the French year in Russia.
He has just received a great success for his Bolshoï debuts, conducting there L'Enfant et les Sortileges by Ravel, and some R. Strauss Lieder. His recent performances of Faust by Gounod at the Teatro Argentino have also been unanimously praised.
His future plans include The Pearl Fishers by Bizet in Hong Kong, Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy in Teatro Argentino, Madama Butterfly by Puccini, Macbeth by Verdi, Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti, Don Giovanni by Mozart, ballets and symphonic concerts in France, Europe, Asia and South America.