Hailed by Diapason music magazine as a “concertist well-grounded for all kinds of challenges”, the clarinetist Nicolas Baldeyrou can pride himself on an already prolific career at just forty years of age.

After graduating from the CNSMD (National Conservatory of Music and Dance) of Paris where he studied under the tutelage of Michel Arrignon, Jérôme Julien-Laferrière and Jean-Noël Crocq for bass clarinet, Nicolas Baldeyrou soon distinguished himself on the international stage, winning three leading music competitions: the prestigious Munich ARD Competition in Munich (Germany) in 1998, the Dos Hermanas Competition in Sevilla (Spain) in 1999, and finally, the ICA Young Artist Competition (United States) in 2001. He is also laureate of the Adami revelations of the Natixis Foundation, of the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award, and was honored in 2004 with his work in the renowned “Rising Stars” programme coordinated by the European Concert Hall Organisation.

A precocious musician who loves his instrument, he is one of the most virtuosic and inspired performers today. Nicolas Baldeyrou is regularly invited to play as a soloist with the most respected European and international orchestras, such as Sinfonia Varsovia, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of France, the Czech Philharmonic, the Tokyo, Prague, and Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras under the batons of leading directors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Mihhail Gerts, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, and Claudio Abbado. He is a recurring guest on the Folles Journées Festivals in Nantes, Tokyo, and Varsaw and gives recitals at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Cité de la musique in Paris, the Kölner Philharmony, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory.

Eager to meet new people and discover new human and musical richness, Nicolas now dedicates himself to a trifold career: soloist first, but also orchestra musician within the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra where he was appointed first clarinet in 2011. He has also been a member of the symphonic ephemeral orchestra Sinfonia Grange au Lac – an orchestra, since its creation in 2018, exclusively composed of the finest musicians in Europe and directed by some of the best conductors of the international scene, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel.

Mindful of transmitting his art to a wide range of people, Nicolas Baldeyrou dedicates the third part of his career to clarinet education, mainly at the CNSMDP of Lyon where he has been teaching since 2006, but also to masterclasses throughout the world. He has been recently appointed “Visiting Professor” by the Royal Conservatory of Scotland based in Glasgow.

An accomplished recitalist, Nicolas Baldeyrou does not neglect chamber music. A founding member of the Vendôme Clarinet Quartet with whom he recorded several discs, he is an exceptional chambrist who knows how to surround himself with his elite contemporaries. His regular partners have included Bertrand Chamayou, Nikolai Lugansky, Svetlin Roussev, Antoine Tamestit, Marc Coppey, François Salque, Alexei Ogrintchouk, David Walter, David Guerrier, Julien Hardy, the Moraguès Quintet, and the Modigliani, Ébène, Psophos Quartets.

His extensive discography regularly enjoys worldwide critical acclaim. His album Rhapsodie, released on the Klarthe music label in 2015 and dedicated to French music for clarinet and piano, was awarded several prizes both in France and abroad (including four stars by Classica). November 2018 saw the release of a new opus devoted to Weber (Klarthe) recorded with the Victor Hugo Franche Comté Orchestra under the baton of Jean-François Verdier. A Brahms album came out in December 2019 with French pianist Geoffroy Couteau and cellist Raphaël Perraud (La Dolce Volta) and was already awarded all important French prizes. A recording of Schubert’s Octet (Alpha) was also just released in April 2020. Next project will be a CD of contemporary music dedicated to composers Pierre Boulez, Bruno Mantovani, and Michael Jarrell (Klarthe).

Finally, his passion for exploring new repertoires and his commitment to authenticity in his performances lead Nicolas naturally towards an interest in historical clarinets. He is regularly invited to play by Marc Minkowski with Les Musiciens du Louvre, by Emmanuelle Haïm with Le Concert d’Astrée ensemble, and by Emmanuel Krivine and La Chambre Philharmonique.

An official tester for the brand since 2004, Nicolas Baldeyrou is one of the members of the R&D centre and thus contributes to the development of the clarinet and to the influence of the French savoir-faire throughout the world.