Jean-Claude Casadesus

Sponsor of the 11th UNESCO Week of Sound After starting his career as a percussionist, Jean-Claude Casadesus studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux and Pierre Boulez.
In 1965, he was appointed musical director of the Théâtre du Châtelet, and four years later was hired as permanent conductor at the Opéra de Paris and the Opéra-Comique.
In 1971, he took part in the creation of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, of which he was deputy director until 1976.
It was at this time that he created the Orchestre National de Lille, which, under his direction, became a veritable ambassador for the Nord-Pas de Calais region and French culture.
With his orchestra, he performs in 32 countries on four continents, touring Central Europe, Russia, China and Kazakhstan as part of the 2013 France-Kazakhstan cross-season.
He is a guest of the greatest international orchestras, from Philadelphia to Tokyo, via Montreal, London and Berlin, as well as the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre National de France.
He also conducts major opera productions in Monte-Carlo, Trieste, at the Aix-en-Provence and Orange festivals and, of course, at the Opéra de Lille.
An ardent defender of contemporary music, he is currently president of the association Musique Nouvelle en Liberté, which promotes and supports contemporary music.
Himself a composer for film and theater in his early days, in 2001 he set up composer residencies at the Orchestre National de Lille.
He has recorded some thirty discs with the orchestra, to unanimous critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros in 1978 for Dutilleux’s First Symphony.
In 2004, the Victoires de la Musique awarded him a Victoire d’Honneur.
He is the author of a book, Le plus court chemin d’un cœur à un autre, published by Stock in 1997, and an autobiography in the form of interviews with Frédéric Gaussin, La partition d’une vie, published in 2012 by Ecriture.
Musical director of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes from 2005 to 2008 and of the Lille Piano(s) Festival, Jean-Claude Casadesus is Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, des Arts et Lettres, de l’Ordre Orange-Nassau, Officier de l’Ordre Léopold de Belgique, Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and Chevalier des Palmes Académiques.
In October 2013, he was awarded the Prix de l’Engagement Sociétal by EY (Ernst & Young) and L’Express magazine.