Raphaël Sévère

“Raphael Severe’s Clarinet wonders by clarity of sound, accuracy of breath and understanding of the text. Raphael Severe is already, despite his young age, but rightly considered as "the" French virtuoso of the twenty-first century.”
Resmusica – October 2014 - Jean-Luc Caron

“Sévère possesses a lovely tone that is remarkably even throughout the clarinet’s range, and a superb legato. He shapes a phrase lovingly and has impeccable intonation.”
Fanfare Magazine, Richard A. Kaplan

Discovered by the public at the Victoires de la Musique 2010 - French classical music awards – Raphael Severe currently ranks as the youngest representative of the French school of clarinet.

His 1rst Price at the Tokyo Competition at the age of 12, and his nomination at the age of 15 in the category of Instrumental soloist revelation highlighted an outstanding musical record. In the United States, Raphael won in 2013 the 1st Prize of the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York, as well as eight out of the ten Special Prices.

In concerto, Raphaël has recently made remarked debuts at the Berlin Konzerthaus with the Konzerthausorchester under Nathalie Stutzmann’s baton, at the Festival de Saint-Denis with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (cond. Rinaldo Alessandrini) and with the Orchestre National de Bordeaux (cond. Maxim Emelyanychev). He has the opportunity to perform with the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester/Aziz Shokhakimov at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Orchestra of St. Luke/ Michael Francis at the Alice Tully Hall in New York, the London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Michael Seal, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse/Josep Pons and Maxime Pascal, the Orchestre National de Lille/ Karen Kamensek etc.

He is also the guest of the Hong-Kong Sinfonietta, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Toulon, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lorraine, the Orchestre de Toulon, the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle Aquitaine, and the Sinfonia Varsovia.

In recital and chamber music, Raphaël performs at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Kennedy Center in Washington, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Gardner Museum in Boston and in Vancouver, Auditorium du Louvre in Pazris, KKL of Lucerne, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Salle Molière in Lyon, Fondazione La Società dei Concerti di Milano, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele, French May in Hong-Kong, Festival de la Grange de Meslay, Festival International de Colmar, Menton Festival, Grand Théâtre d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival de Pâques de Deauville, Festival de Radio France Occitanie-Montpellier, Festival Musiques en été in Geneva, Folles Journées de Nantes, Tokyo and Ekaterinbourg…

Radio France offered him a « Carte Blanche », as part of its Chamber Music Series. Raphaël also performed in Berlin as part of a show in ARTE Les Stars de demain presented by Rolando Villazon.

A very fine chamber music partner, Raphaël Sévère shares the stage with the quartets Modigliani, Ebène, Prazák, Van Kuijk, the trios Wanderer and Messiaen, Martha Argerich, Boris Berezovsky, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Gidon Kremer, David Grimal, Gérard Caussé, Antoine Tamestit, Gary Hoffman, Xavier Phillips, François Salque... He regularly performs with the pianist Adam Laloum and the cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière with whom he released an album dedicated to Brahms (Mirare), which received the « Diapason d’Or of the Year 2015 ».

Always attracted by the creation and himself a composer, in 2016 he created his first piece Obscurs for clarinet and guitar at Salle Cortot (Paris) with Antoine Morinière, published by L'empreinte mélodique. In 2019, he has composed Seven Miniatures for solo piano (creation in February 2019) and Entre Chien et Loup for solo guitar (creation in Vienna in summer 2019). In 2020, he will create his first concerto for clarinet and orchestra, commissioned by the Orchestre de Bretagne.

His recordings have been rewarded among others by Diapason (Diapason d'Or), Classica (Choc), Télérama (FFFF event).

In 2017, Raphaël has released an album dedicated to Carl Maria von Weber's first Clarinet Concerto recorded at the Berlin Philharmonic with the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester under the direction of Aziz Shokhakimov, with two works by the same composer with the pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (Mirare).

Accomplice since always with the Trio Messiaen, they have released in 2018 an album devoted to the Quatuor pour la fin du temps by Olivier Messiaen, as well as to the Court Studies from the Tempest by Thomas Adès (Mirare).

Photo Credit : Sylvain Picart