Benjamin Pionnier
Conductor
Benjamin Pionnier graduated from the Conservatoire National de Region in Nice (France) in piano and chamber music. While there, he also studied double-bass, singing, clarinet, harmony and counterpoint. After graduating, he went on to study with Brigitte Engerer, from the National Conservatory in Paris.
He performed many times as a pianist and in chamber music in France and across Europe and Middle-East. He then studied orchestral conducting in France before entering George Hurst's conducting classes in Great Britain. He received first prize there in orchestral conducting with distinction. He is also a laureate of the conducting competition in Manchester (Royal Northern College of Music). He was then chosen to participate in conducting master-classes across Europe. Simultaneous to his career as pianist and accompanist, Maestro Pionnier has worked as repetiteur, vocal coach and assistant for many theaters in France and abroad.
As pianist and conductor, Maestro Pionnier has taken part in many festivals, including the 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 the Macao International Music Festival.
Benjamin Pionnier has also been assisting many famous conductors, most recently James Levine, who invited him to the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall.
He has conducted many operas - mainly in France, Europe and Asia - including works by Offenbach, Mozart, Bizet, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Lehar, and Glück.
His operatic repertoire is varied and 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.
Operas he conducted most recently include the following: La Vie Parisienne in Paris, Les Contes d'Hoffman in Singapore, Orpheus et Eurydice in Nice, Cosí fan tutte; Roméo et Juliette in Moscow; and La Jolie fille de Perth in Switzerland. Upcoming engagements include Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Musiques au coeur Festival, as well as many concerts with french orchestras.
From 2006 to 2009, Maestro Pionnier has been Artistic Advisor at the Opéra de Nice. He works now more specifically with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice.