Jean-Guihen Queyras

Curiosity, diversity and a firm focus on the music itself characterise the artistic work of Jean-Guihen Queyras. Whether on stage or on record, one experiences an artist dedicated completely and passionately to the music, whose humble and quite unpretentious treatment of the score reflects its clear, undistorted essence. The inner motivations of composer, performer and audience must all be in tune with one another in order to bring about an outstanding concert experience.

He learnt this interpretative approach from Pierre Boulez, with whom he established a long artistic partnership. This philosophy, alongside a flawless technique and a clear, engaging tone, also shapes Jean-Guihen Queyras’ approach to every performance and his absolute commitment to the music itself.

His approaches to early music – as in his collaborations with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin – and to contemporary music are equally thorough. He has given world premieres of works by, among others, Ivan Fedele, Gilbert Amy, Bruno Mantovani, Michael Jarrell, Johannes-Maria Staud, Thomas Larcher and Tristan Murail. Conducted by the composer, he recorded Peter Eötvös’ Cello Concerto to mark his 70th birthday in November 2014.

Jean-Guihen Queyras was a founding member of the Arcanto Quartet and forms a celebrated trio with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov; the latter is, alongside Alexandre Tharaud, a regular accompanist. He has also collaborated with zarb specialists Bijan and Keyvan Chemirani on a Mediterranean programme.

The versatility in his music-making has led to many concert halls, festivals and orchestras inviting Jean-Guihen to be Artist in Residence, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Vredenburg Utrecht, De Bijloke Ghent and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

Jean-Guihen Queyras often appears with renowned orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, working with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Maxim Emelyanychev, François-Xavier Roth, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Roger Norrington.

Jean-Guihen Queyras’ discography is impressive. His recordings of cello concertos by Edward Elgar, Antonín Dvořák, Philippe Schoeller and Gilbert Amy have been released to critical acclaim. As part of a harmonia mundi project dedicated to Schumann, he has recorded the complete piano trios with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov and at the same time the Schumann cello concerto with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado. The recording “THRACE – Sunday Morning Sessions” explores, in collaboration with the Chemirani brothers and Sokratis Sinopoulos, the intersections of contemporary music, improvisation and Mediterranean traditions. In addition to the first CD of the “Invisible Stream” Ensemble 2022, consisting of Jean-Guihen Queyras, Raphaël Imbert, Pierre-François Blanchard and Sonny Troupé, the recording of the cello concertos by Kraft and CPE Bach with the Ensemble Resonanz under the direction of Ricardo Minasi was released in 2024. Jean-Guihen Queyras records exclusively for harmonia mundi.

In the 2024/25 season, Queyras is resident artist with the Residentie Orkest Den Haag and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. He will also be performing with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado São Paulo, the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, the Sinfonietta Riga and the SWR Symphonieorchester under the baton of Andris Poga, Karina Canellakis, Anja Bihlmaier, Riccardo Minasi, Normunds Šnē, Michael Schønwandt and Giedrė Šlekytė, among others. Chamber music concerts with partners such as Isabelle Faust, Christian Poltéra, Antoine Tamestit, Anne Katharina Schreiber, Alexandre Tharaud, the Ensemble intercontemporain, Tabea Zimmermann, Mark Simpson, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Alexander Melnikov from Hamburg to Vienna, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Seattle and Tokyo, as well as solo concerts in Paris, Strasbourg, Leipzig, Kronberg, Yokohama, Girona and Vevey round off his season.

Jean-Guihen Queyras holds a professorship at the University of Music Freiburg and is Artistic Director of the “Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence” festival in Forcalquier. He plays on an instrument by Pietro Guarneri, made in Venice in 1729, made available to him by Canimex Inc. of Drummondville, Quebec, Canada.