Jerôme Comte
After studying in Geneva and Paris with teachers of the eminence of Thomas Friedli, Pascal Moragues and Michel Arrignon, Jérôme Comte was noted at several international competitions in Paris, Prague and Munich and was awarded scholarships by the Meyer Foundation for cultural and artistic development and the Foundation d’Entreprise Groupe Banque Populaire. In 2003, he became the first young musician to be sponsored by the Charles Cros Academy. Jérôme Comte embarked on a career as chamber musician that has taken him all over the world. Among the internationally acclaimed orchestras with which he has performed are the London Symphony Orchestra, The Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, which he joined at the age of 25. The following year he performed Yan Maresz ‘s Éclipse for clarinet and ensemble under the direction of Pierre Boulez at the Festival d’Aix en Provence. In 2009, he again appeared with Boulez in Elliot Carter’s Clarinet Concerto during a tour of major european concerts halls. He recorded the work for Alpha Classics in 2016 with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under the direction of Matthias Pintscher. In 2010 he was invited to perform Boulez’s Dialogue de l’ombre double on the occasion of a retrospective of the composer at the Louvre. Since then he has regularly played the work. Among significant milestones in Jérôme Comte’s career have been his performances of Unsuk Chin’s clarinet Concerto under the direction of Matthias Pintscher at the New World Center in Miami and Hans Werner Henze’s Le Miracle de la Rose at the Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris.
Jérôme Comte plays exclusively on a Buffet Crampon Tosca Green line Clarinet.
Denis Pascal
Denis Pascal became one of the last significant disciples of Pierre Sancan at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He attented the classes of Jacques Rouvier, Leon Fleisher and György Sandor.
He won several international prizes, such as the competitions of Lisbon and Zurich, and the Concert Artist Guild Competition in New York and the Cziffra, Lavoisier and Menuhin Foundations, and finished his studies with György Sebök in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received the Artist Diploma.
Denis Pascal plays many solo and chamber music performances in Europe, USA and Asia : Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris), Merkin and Alice Tully Concert Halls (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington)…and with orchestras such as
National Orchestra of Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, New Japan Philharmonic, San Francisco Chamber Philharmonic, Pacific Chamber Orchestra…
He has been awarded several times for his recordings of Liszt’s 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, receiving the «Choc du Monde de la Musique», «Classica Award» and the Prize of the Franz Liszt Association.
He is also very interested in rare music and had great success with the world première of Joseph Marx’s piano music. In march 2008, his recording dedicated to Jean Wiener’s music was awarded by a Diapason d’Or.
Numbers of composers have written for him, such as Régis Campo, Jean-Philippe Bec and Guillaume Connesson.
Denis Pascal has been lately appointed piano teacher at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Lyon in January 2010, then of Paris in may 2011.
His latest CD was released last February : Schubert’s sonata (La Musica Label).
