Florent DIDIER is part of this new generation of musicians who are open to different aesthetics and orchestral formations. A sensitive, passionate, and complete conductor, he collaborates with symphony orchestras, choirs, brass bands, wind bands and multifaceted ensembles, reaching out to all audiences.

Musical and Artistic Director of the Paris Brass Band from 2008 to 2020, this position enabled him to shape his know-how within a virtuoso and demanding repertoire. Author of a singular career, he now leads various professional orchestras and ensembles in Scandinavia, Asia, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and France and regularly gives masterclasses or acts as a jury for national and international competitions (CNSM, international competitions: Norway, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, etc.).

Prize winner of the prestigious international competition « British Open » at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham in 2017 (French premiere), he was selected by Atso Almila (Sibelius Academy) for the final stages of the International Conducting Competition in Augsburg, Germany. He led the Paris Brass Band to 6 French Championship titles and to the title of European Brass Band Vice Champion (Montreux, 2019, French premiere). He is also winner of the NMF competitions (HO and Innlandsmesterskapet) in Norway (2018, 2019, 2020), winner of the Oslo Brass Festival (Oslo, 2023) and he is the 2023 Norwegian National Champion with Eikanger-Bjørsvik (French premiere). He clinched a 3rd prize at the EBBC international competition (Malmö, 2023) and a 2nd prize at the Swiss Open international competition (Lucerne, 2023, French premiere).

 

Florent regularly conducts on major international scenes: Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium de Radio France, Oslo Konserthus, Suwon SK Artrium, Konzerthaus Freiburg, Bergen Grieghallen, Montreux Stravinsky Auditorium, Perth Concert Hall, Sage Gateshead, Chiayi City Concert Hall, Kursaal Oostende, Tokyo Hiratsuka Hall, Nouveau Siècle-Lille, Malmö Konserthus, Lucerne KKL, etc. He will soon conduct in Norway, Switzerland, England, and Japan.

He has recently made his conducting debut with Ars Nova (Festival Images Sonores – pieces by Reich, Glass, Adams) and with the Ensemble 2e2m with which he records and is now regularly performing in concerts (at Radio France, France Musique, Studio de l’Ermitage, Paris Conservatory, etc.). Lately, he assisted F.X Roth with the Gürzenich Orchestrer Kölnin a concert and recording programme (Schumann and E. Poppe).

His research in the field of early music and his singular training as a musician allow him to connect repertoires and to approach contemporary creation with open-mindedness and originality. He performs or implements projects such as: « Couleurs françaises » at the Bergen University, « Paris et son modernisme » through the creation of Hypercube by O. Waespi, the creation of the committed and humanist piece Horrorshow by S. Dobson after the Bataclan theatre massacre in Paris, the introspective and existential project Life by the young composer F. Cali, as well as a show at the Opéra Garnier combining two ballets: Sous apparence by Marie Agnès Gillot for the Paris Opera Ballet (music by Brückner, Feldman, Ligeti) associated with a revival of Un jour ou deux by Merce Cunningham (music by J. Cage). He conducts the orchestra of the Lorient Interceltic Festival in pieces crossing scholarly and traditional music, as well as a French-Danish orchestral program in Copenhagen with the international clarinet soloist N. Baldeyrou.

Here are but a few examples of the plurality of his projects: Chat Perché by P. Singier (Opéra Bastille’s Amphitheatre, Opéras de Rennes, Angers, Orléans, Vevey), La langue d’après Babel by S. Kassap (creation for a Western contemporary ensemble and a traditional African ensemble), Zajal Opera by Z. Moutalka (at the Printemps de Beyrouth and Ile de France Festival), Aks by P. Dusapin (at the Collège de France), Staahaadler Affenstall by O. Omelchuk, as well as Lost Prayer Book by O. Adamek for mouth organ and ensemble (at the Philharmonie de Paris), Brückner and Messiaen programs (at the Festival d’Aix en Provence), Xenakis – Henze – Schreier programs (at the Grand Théâtre d’Aix en Provence), On Air by B. Chassaing (Radio France premiere), Le son de l’arc en ciel by K. Naegelen (with Elise Caron), Geek Bagatelles by B. Cavanna for orchestra and smartphone choir, and so on.

Very attached to the training of young musicians, he elaborates the various training programs of the Orchestras and Conducting classes at the Creteil Regional Conservatory, conducts the Maîtrise de Radio France at Radio France Auditorium during the creation of Ecce Homo, Ecce Paris by O. Calmel and participates actively in the Démos project of the Philharmonie de Paris. He conducted the 2022 session of the European Youth Brass Band (Birmingham) and he conducted at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) in 2023. He is in high demand by several international summer academies (Larmor, St Jean de Luz), where he trains future professional musicians in orchestral section and conducting. He is a member of the French Ministry of Culture / Philharmonie de Paris steering committee for the Apprentissages collectifs de la musique symposium (December 2020), where he leads two round tables entitled “Collective learning paths in France and abroad” and “The evolution of the conductor’s profession”. He is currently designing a pedagogical project for the young audiences on L’Opera (forse) by F. Filidei.

A trained trombonist, Florent DIDIER has brilliantly distinguished himself by winning numerous national and international prizes and competitions. From research to didactics through the interpretation of all repertoires, he also obtained a Master’s degree in musicology (Reims University), a Certificate of Competence, the Professor of Art Education contest, as well as a Master’s degree in “Pedagogy training for Music teaching”, after studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse both in Paris (Trombone, Analysis, Chamber Music) and Lyon (Qualifying training for the Certificate of Competence).

As a musician he participates in performances of the main national orchestras (Paris Orchestra, Paris National Opera, Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Ile de France)… His activities within the ensembles 2e2m, Ars Nova, and as a chamber musician (member of the Feeling Brass Quintet from 2008 to 2013, ensemble winner of several national and international prizes) have led him to participate in numerous festivals in France and abroad : St Denis Festival, la Chaise Dieu, Ravel Festival, Flâneries Musicales in Reims, Monte Carlo Festival, Festival de Toulouse, Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato (Mexico) but also in Lebanon, Egypt, Switzerland, Algeria, Austria, Spain, Israel…

Florent has contributed to many different recordings, including Hypercube and a Live from Taïwan with the Paris Brass Band, a disc called Fantasy (pieces by A. Plog, E. Carter, W. Lutoslawsky, creation by K. Beffa), an album dedicated to Fineberg and Murail recorded at the Ircam… He arranges for strings and choirs (Tryo, Clarika at the St Germain Estival), for brass (Ryan Leslie at the Cabaret Sauvage), accompanies artists like Michel Legrand, Vladimir Cosma, Vincent Delerm, Yaël Naïm, Ibrahim Maalouf, Juliette… in studio sessions (Ferber, Davout, Guillaume Tell, EuropaCorp) or at the Victoires de la Musique, Taratata, Mogador, Olympia…

Freelance conductor, Florent is the Artistic Director of the Metalak Euskal Herrian and the Principal Trombone of the Ensemble 2e2m and the French Air Force Band. He is coordinator of theorchestras and conducting classes at the Creteil Regional Conservatory, conductor for the Démos programme and trainer for the Philharmonie de Paris.

During the summer 2021, Florent DIDIER was honoured with the title Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a distinction awarded by the French Minister of Culture.