Emmanuel Pahud

Introduction

Pahud is generally regarded as one of the world's greatest flautists.  He was one of the youngest ever principal players at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra when he was appointed in 1992.   His innate musicality and extraordinary technique have put him high on the agenda for solo appearances in Japan, South East Asia, Europe and the United States.   His regular recital partners include Eric Le Sage, Hélène Grimaud, Yefim Bronfman and the jazz pianist, Jacky Terrasson.   He is greatly in demand as a chamber musician and in this context has collaborated with most of the world's top soloists.  He is an exclusive EMI Classics artist and his recordings have been showered with international awards and prizes.  

Biography

Named "Instrumentalist of the Year 1997" at the prestigious Victoires de la Musique award ceremony in Paris, the Swiss-French flutist Emmanuel Pahud is one of today's most exciting and adventurous musicians.  Born in Geneva in January 1970, he started to study music at the age of six.  He graduated in 1990 with the Premier Prix from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, after which he continued his studies with Aurele Nicolet.

Emmanuel has won first prize in many major International Music Competitions, such as Kobe in 1989, Duino in 1988. He then went on to win eight out of the twelve special prizes at the Concours de Genève in 1992.  He took the Soloists Prize in the World-wide French-speaking Community Radio Awards, and the European Council's Juventus Prize.  He is also a laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and of the International Tribune for Musicians of UNESCO.

At the age of 22, Emmanuel Pahud was appointed Principal Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, a post to which he returned in 2002 after an 18-month sabbatical when he taught the Virtuosity Class at the Geneva Conservatoire. He has recently been voted onto the Media Vorstand of the BPO.

Emmanuel appears regularly at leading festivals throughout Europe, the USA and the Far East. He has appeared as soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Mariinski, Minnesota Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Washington National Symphony, NHK Symphony, and Scottish Chamber orchestras. He has collaborated with conductors such as Abbado, Rattle, Zinman, Maazel, Gergiev, Gardiner, Harding, Järvi, Rostropovich and Perlman.

In 2009-10 Emmanuel performs with the National Philharmonic of Russia, Poznan Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Galacia Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra.

He is a dedicated chamber musician and regularly gives recital tours with pianists such as Eric Le Sage, Yefim Bronfman and Hélène Grimaud, as well as jazzing with Jacky Terrasson.  In 2009-10 Emmanuel gives recitals with guitarist Christian Rivet and tours with Trevor Pinnock in Japan and Europe playing Bach complete flute sonatas. His recording of this programme with Pinnock was released on EMI in October 2008 and has recently won an Echo Klassik award.

In 1996 Emmanuel signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics, a collaboration which is set to be one of the most significant contributions to recorded flute music. The releases have received unanimous critical acclaim and have been showered with awards including several TV-Victoires de la Musique, Diapason d'Or, Radio France's "Recording of the Year", Fono-Forum and TV-Echo awards in Germany, "Record Geijutsu" and "Ongaku no Tomo"award from the Japanese record industry. 

In June 2009 Emmanuel was honoured to be given the title Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contribution to music.

May 2010

Press Reviews

“The flute concerto No.1 in G is entertainment music on a high level, especially when played with the panache Emmanuel Pahud brought to it yesterday.  What a full, rich, luscious tone he has.”
Time Page, Washington Post, November 2007

“Pahud always charms the ear.”
Classic FM Magazine, June 2006

“…his ability to transform every piece with his own individuality has wooed audiences across the globe.”
Sunday Business Post Agenda, June 2006

“In Swiss-French flautist Emmanuel Pahud, the ACO had yet another collaborator who projects a strong musical personality, yet plays from within the ensemble, communicating directly with its members as colleagues, rather than standing isolated out front.”
Courier Mail, 13 July 2005

“Flautist Emmanuel Pahud…produced a golden stream of sound from his 14-carat golden flute. There was not a hint of breathiness in his technique; phrases, no matter how long and taxing, were flawlessly ushered in, stated and tapered. This was musicality of untramelled pleasure.”
Neville Cohn, West Australian, 8 July 2005
Vivaldi/Brett Dean/Australian Chamber Orchestra/Concert Hall Perth

“Pahud brings shapely sound to light and dark programme”
“…Pahud’s flute playing was beautifully shaped and in perfect union with the orchestra”
Joel Crotty, Melbourne Age, 5 July 2005
Vivaldi/Brett Dean/Australian Chamber Orchestra/Harmer Hall Melbourne

Contact

Jilly Clarke

Melanie Moult

Susie Murray

WORLD (Excl Austria, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, USA)
 

Schedule

Matsue (Shimane) Plover Hall, Japan
15 October 2010 19.00

Nishinomiya (Hyogo) Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Japan
16 October 2010 15.00

Koidego (Niigata) Koidego Cultural Hall, Japan
17 October 2010 15.00

Tokyo Oji Hall, Japan
22 October 2010 19.00

Nagoya (Aichi) Shirakawa Hall, Japan
23 October 2010 19.00

Saitama (Saitama) Saitama Arts Theater Concert Hall, Japan
24 October 2010 19.00

Mariinsky Concert Hall, St Petersburg, Russia
31 October 2010

Esplanade, Singapore
27 November 2010 19.30

Erholungshaus, Leverkusen, Germany
28 November 2010

Museum Burg Linn, Krefeld, Germany
29 November 2010

Publicity Downloads

© Josef Fischnaller

© Lou Denim EMI Classics

© Peter Adamik EMI Classics