Philippe Cuper

Philippe Cuper, Clarinet

« He is one of the best representatives of the instrument, soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, he is on all fronts with the same quite ease, the same comforting serenity. »(Michael Le Naour, journalist « Le Monde de la Musique »).

Principal Clarinet of the Paris National Opera Orchestra (since 1984), previously principal clarinet in the Lamoureux Orchestra (Paris) and the Youth World Orchestra.  Philippe Cuper was invited to play with the Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala de Milano, Bavarian Radio Symphonic, Czech Philharmonic, Moscow Symphonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre de Paris, National de France and Ensemble Contemporains in Paris among others, under the direction of maestros Sawallisch, Ozawa, Abbado, Maazel, Mehta, Boulez, Prêtre, Dohnanyi, Barenboim, Gergiev, Salonnen, Conlon, Chung, Jordan and many more.  Mr. Cuper worked with famous composers like Messiaen (Quartet), Françaix (CD recording of the concerto conducted by the composer), Sauguet, Mihalovici, Rosenthal, Berio, Denisov, Komives, Hersant, Zygel, Bacri, Connesson, Girard, Maratka ect. He played the premiere of many concertos composed by Bacri, Stankovitch, Gronych (with Giora Feidman and Eddie Daniels) in Tel Aviv, and Paquito D’Rivera clarinet quintets in Boston.
Born in Lille, France, Philippe Cuper won prizes and rewards in many international competitions: Munich, Prague, Viotti, Slovak prize, medal in Geneva, Orvieto and Mravinsky medal in Saint Petersburg, after he graduated from the Sorbonne University and the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) where he got first prize with exceptionally high honors. His clarinet teachers were Gilbert Voisin (Cahuzac’s student), Guy Dangain, Guy Deplus, Henri Druart and he also worked with J. Lancelot, A. Boutard, S. Drucker (New York Philharmonic) and J. Hubeau, P. Pasquier (chamber music).
Prof. Phillipe Cuper is faculty at the Versailles National Conservatory, he previously taught at the CNSM, Conservatorio Superior de Aragon (Spain), Chicago, Cleveland, Mexico, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canberra, Jerusalem and Moscow.
Mr. Cuper recorded more than 40 CDs, some are French Grammy winners. He is an avid chamber musician and played with world renowned Talich, Kocian, Takacs, Enesco, Parisi and Benaïm string quartets, Wanderer Trio, pianists such as P. Badura-Skoda, P.L. Aimard, M.W. Chung, L. Cabasso, F. Chaplin, as well as Violinists R. Ricci, A. Brussilovsky, O. Charlier and L. Korcia.  He founded the Paris Wind Octet in 1986.

http://philippecuper.com/