Jean-Marc Fessard

Jean-Marc Fessard comes from the great tradition of the French clarinet school that he represented at the International Congress at Phoenix, USA. He was awarded from the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris (1er Prix clarinet, bass-clarinet and chamber music), the Paris University (Master Musicology), the Gdansk Music Academy (PhD). He was prizewinner of the Concours d’Interpretation Jacques Lancelot (1st prize), the Paris International Competition (3rd prize, 1996), Ilzach (1st prize 1997) and Gdansk (1st prize and Special prize of the Hamburg Brahms Society 1997).

Jean-Marc Fessard leads an international career both in chamber music and as a soloist accompanied by prestigious ensembles (National orchestras of Polish Radio, Poznan, Szczecin, Katowice, Bakou, Gdansk, Chamber orchestra of the Czech Philharmonic, Wallonie Chamber Orchestra, Polish chamber orchestra, Zagreb Chamber Orchestra, Elysee, Ebene, and Wieniawski Quartets).

Involved in creating contemporary music, dedicatee of many works, and member of the Ensemble Sillages, JMF is a frequent contributor to Polish radio and television, the BBC and Radio France. In April 2011 he had performed the Tansman clarinet concerto at the Warszaw Polish Radio Studio I. In November 2011 he had recorded D’un silence… the clarinet concerto by Piotr Moss with the National Polish Radio Orchestra conducted by Michal Klausa.

JMF has recorded some 30 CD for such labels as Naxos, Dux, Universal, Clarinet Classics,Signature Radio-France Triton, Leibovitz, Kalidisc, Ameson, Harp&Co and Quantum, which regularly receive excellent reviews in the specialised press.

Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen described his version of the Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps by Olivier Messiaen as ‘simply admirable’. He has just recorded for Naxos Alexander Tansman’s Concerto and Concertino for clarinet.

Polish Music for clarinet and piano including rare works by Szalowski, Perkowski, Moss, Rathaus will be available in October 2011 ( ” Clarinet Classics” in London).

Jean-Marc Fessard has been invited to give masterclasses in the Czech republic (Prague Conservatory), Russia (St Petersburg Conservatory), Poland (Gdansk, Poznan, Lodz, Katowice), the UK (Royal College of Music, London), Beijing University, National Conservatory and China Conservatory in Beijing, Mexico (National Conservatory Mexico).

He is a member of the jury of the Gdansk International Brahms Competition and the Lodz Alexander Tansman International Chamber Music Competition.

Jean-Marc Fessard is the author of The Evolution of the Clarinet (published by Billaudot Paris), a work on the history of the clarinet, and is director of publications for Billaudot-Paris which published his clarinet method Ecoute, je joue !.

Photo credit : Lucie Bigo / Henri SELMER Paris