Axel Benoit

The french bassoonist Axel Benoit, one of the most sought after artist of his generation, is currently Principal Bassoon at the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He is regularly invited as Principal Bassoon in prestigious orchestras such as the Mahler Chamber  Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Zurich Opera, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, the Lucerne Festival Strings, the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Orchestra of Europe and the European Philharmonic of Switzerland.

Born in 1992, he started taking lessons of piano at the age of 6 and bassoon at the age of 9, professors Jean-Luc André and Hervé Issartel. Graduated at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional du Grand Avignon (CRR) with distinction in both instruments, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon (CNSM) in the class of professor Carlo Colombo in 2010. In 2012, he joined the Zurich Opera as academist. In the mean time, he obtained a Soloist Master degree at the University of Arts in Zurich (ZhdK) in the class of Giorgio Mandolesi.

At 19 years old, in 2011, Axel Benoit won the 1st prize at the International Double Reed Society competition in Tempe (USA) and has since participated in many festivals such as Verbier and Zermatt, in the most famous international orchestras, such as the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Gustav Mahler Academy.
He has already given concerts in the most prestigious halls in the world, such as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall, the KKL in Lucerne under the direction of famous conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Bernhard Haitink, Christoph Eschenbach or Herbert Blomstedt.
Before occupying his current position in Lausanne, Axel Benoit was, at 21 years old, Principal Bassoon of the Bern Symphony Orchestra (2013-2016), He regularly gives concerts in the biggest halls of Europe and Asia. He is a member of “The Universal Bassoon Ensemble” in China and leader of the “Assemblage” bassoon quartet in Japan.

Axel Benoit teaches at the Escuola Superior de Musica e Artes do Espectaculo (ESMAE) in Porto (Portugal), he regularly performs as soloist and teacher abroad : Japan, China, Portugal, Spain, Germany, France .

In 2019, he won the Principal Bassoon position at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, which he will occupy from August 2020.
He is a “Püchner” artist and plays on a “Superior” model instrument.