Raphaël Sévère
Discovered by the public at the Victoires de la Musique 2010 - French classical music awards – Raphael Sévère currently ranks as the youngest representative of the French school of clarinet.
After winning the Tokyo Competition at the age of twelve and gaining a nomination as ‘Solo Instrumental Discovery’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique aged fifteen, Raphaël Sévère went on to win the prestigious Young Concerts Artists International Auditions in New York in November 2013, where he was awarded First Prize and eight special prizes.
Raphaël has performed as a soloist with the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester at the Berlin Philharmonie, with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall in New York, with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris at the Saint-Denis Festival and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, with the Russian National Orchestra at the Colmar Festival, with the Korean National Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center, as well as with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthausorchester, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Sinfonia Varsovia, and the Orchestres Nationaux du Capitole de Toulouse, Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire, Lille, Strasbourg, Ile de France.
In recital, he has appeared at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York, the Gardner Museum in Boston and Vancouver, the Auditorium du Louvre, the KKL in Lucerne, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele, Fondazione La Società dei Concerti di Milano, French May in Hong Kong, Seoul Arts Center, Festival de la Grange de Meslay, Salle Molière in Lyon, Grand Théâtre d’Aix en Provence, Festival de Radio France Montpellier, Folles Journées in Nantes, Warsaw and Tokyo.
His chamber music partners include the Ebène, Modigliani and Prazák Quartets and the Wanderer and Karénine Trios, as well as Martha Argerich, Adam Laloum, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Gidon Kremer, Renaud Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Antoine Tamestit, Gary Hoffman, Xavier Philips…
A lifelong admirer of creation and himself a composer, his works have been premiered in Paris at Salle Cortot, Salle Colonne, La Scala Paris, Rennes Opera and Radio France Montpellier Festival, as well as in Austria at Vienna Guitar Festival, and in Switzerland at Kunstraum Walcheturm and Zurich Saxfest.
In April 2022 he premiered a double concerto for clarinet and viola, alongside viola soloist Adrien La Marca, commissioned by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. His works are published by l’Empreinte Mélodique.
His recordings have been awarded by Diapason (Diapason d’Or, Diapason d’Or de l’année), Classica (Choc), Télérama (évènement FFFF), ResMusica (Clef), Le Monde (sélection), L’Obs (album du weekend), France Musique (choix), and Radio Classique (trophée de la semaine).
His latest album, released in autumn 2025, Sing! (Harmonia Mundi International), features a programme “Songs without words, Schumann-Brahms-Wagner” with pianist Adam Laloum.
Crédit photo : Sylvain Picart
