School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Raphaël Pichon

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Raphaël Pichon is a French conductor and singer, born in 1984. As a child he sang in the choir of the Petits Chanteurs de Versailles. Later he studied violin and piano in Versailles and singing and conducting at the Conservatoire de Paris. He began as a countertenor and sang under conductors such as Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall and Gustav Leonhardt. By his own account, Bach's Johannes-Passion (St John Passion), which he sang as a child, changed his life.

Music and breakthrough

In 2006, while still a student, he founded Ensemble Pygmalion, a choir and orchestra that plays on period instruments. The ensemble seeks out the connections between composers such as Bach and Mendelssohn, Schütz and Brahms or Rameau and Gluck, and presents the great Passions, Mozart's Requiem and Monteverdi's Vespers in a new light. His recordings of Rameau began with Dardanus in 2013 and Castor et Pollux in 2015. After that came, among others, Mozart & The Weber Sisters, Libertà! Mozart & the Opera, Matthäus-Passion in 2022, Vespro della Beata Vergine in 2023 and Mass in B minor in 2025. Pichon is also artistic director of the Pulsations festival in Bordeaux.

Influence

With his ensemble, Pichon is among the conductors who are bringing early music on period instruments back to a large audience. He plays not only Baroque but also Romantic music and compares the styles with each other.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a movement from his recording of the Matthäus-Passion. Notice the interplay of choir and orchestra, which is played on period instruments.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists