Jean-Pierre Wallez

Jean-Pierrre Wallez (born March 18, 1939 in Lille) is a French violinist and conductor.

He was graduated 1st prize of violin and of chamber music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Then, there were the international competitions : 1st Prize of the International Paganini Competition in Genoa, laureate of the International Competition in Geneva and of the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition in Paris.

He was the 1st solo-violin of the Orchestre de Paris from 1975 to 1977. In the same time, he was from 1968 to 1983, the leader of the Ensemble Instrumental de France with which he went over the world and accompanied the greatest soloists in the most famous concert halls and festivals, while he developed his own career as soloist : he played with the Concertgebouw Orchestra with B. Haitink, the Orchestre de Paris, with D. Barenboim and Z. Mehta, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo.... as well as with Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Galina Vichnevskaia, Aldo Ciccolini, Paul Badura-Skoda, Pierre Barbizet...

He was the artistic director of the Festival de Musique d'Albi from the creation in 1974 to the end in 1990, which became one of the most important place for chamber music and chamber opera (Rameau, Dauvergne, Philidor, Mozart, Britten). Most of the productions were broadcast by TV (TF1) and recorded. The Summer Academy of Music was one of the first created in France and was very renowned.

Studying with Pierre Dervaux and then with Sergiu Celibidache, his festival where he conducted all kind of repertoire : opera, oratorio, symphony, was determinant for his career of conductor. In 1978, he created the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, a "Mozart" orchestra which the season of concerts was immediately included in the most prominent musical events of Paris and toured in Europe, South America and Japan. The concerts' seasons presented works from Bach to contemporary composers, symphonic works, chamber music and a collaboration with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain.

In 1986, Jean-Pierre Wallez left the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. He became 1st guest conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie in Belgium from 87 to 90 and then was 1st guest conductor of the Sonderjyllands Symfoniorkester in Denmark from 1990 to 1993. He has been the musical director of the Örebro Chamber Orchestra in Sweden from 1992 to 1995. From 1994 (to the end of 2000) he is the "Principal guest conductor" of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan and from 1996, "First guest conductor" of the Orchestre Pasdeloup in Paris.

His repertoire includes works from Bach to the contemporary composers (he created many works) from chamber orchestra to symphony orchestra, oratorio and lyrical works. Very fond of opera, Mozart is in good place in his repertoire between Rossini, Bizet, Berlioz, Gounod, Britten, Offenbach, etc....

Jean-Pierre Wallez recorded for DECCA, EMI, CBS, ERATO, FORLANE, ADES and received many awards among them Grands Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français for the Violin Concertos by LECLAIR, the Russian Concerto and the Concerto in F by Lalo and a Golden Record for the Vivaldi "Four Seasons" with the EOP (Forlane).

He teaches the violin at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Geneva (virtuosity class) and with his exceptional talent of pedagogue, he also takes care of the children aged 3 to 7 through the association he created : la Maison Internationale du Violon.

He is the artistic adviser of the Septembre Musical de l'Orne a festival in Normandy (France).Jean-Pierre Wallez is Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Officier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite, Officier des Arts et Lettres and received the Médaille de Vermeil of the City of Paris.