Orchestra

Orchestre National de France

Masterclass

Timpani e Percussioni

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François Desforges began percussion in the class of Daniel Ardaillon in Montluçon and then continued his studies in the classes of Didier Benetti and Frédéric Macarez in Paris. At the same time, he studied Latin percussion with Miguel Fiannaca. In 1992, François Desforges was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in the class of Jacques Delecluse and Jean Geoffroy. He graduated in 1995 with a unanimous first prize. That same year, he joined the Orchestre National de France and obtained the Certificate of Aptitude as a percussion teacher. In 1998, he also obtained a first prize in chamber music at the CNSM of Paris in the class of Jacques Ivaldi and Michel Cals.
Today, he holds the position of Principal Timpanist with the Orchestre National de France. With this renowned orchestra, he has participated in numerous projects and international tours under the baton of such prestigious conductors as Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Osawa, Kurt Masur, Daniele Gatti, Bernard Haitink and Cristian Macelaru, his current musical director.
In addition to his activities with the orchestra, François Desforges is passionate about teaching. After many years of teaching at the conservatory of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and at the Conservatory of Créteil, he joined the very prestigious Haute École de Musique de Genève (HEM) in 2016 to teach timpani. This great institution allows him to transmit his passion to students from all over the world. He is regularly invited to give masterclass on orchestral timpani.
As a chamber musician, François Desforges is a member of the ensemble Ad ONF, which is made up of the percussionists of the Orchestre National de France. This variable-geometry ensemble was created in 2004 around Georges Antheil's "Ballet Mécanique" project initiated by René Bosc, then director of musical creation at Radio-France. Since its creation, the ensemble Ad ONF is the regular guest of many festivals such as the festival Présence of Radio-France, La Roque d'Anthéron, the Folles journées of Nantes, the Festival Bel Air of Chambéry... Many artists have associated themselves with the projects of the ensemble Ad ONF such as Marielle and Katia Labeque, Bertrand Chamayou, Jean Frédéric Neuburger, Magali Mosnier, Markus Lindberg, Thierry Escaich, Thomas Ades etc...
François Desforges performs with many other partners such as the "unclassifiable" group Quai n. 5, the Accentus Chamber Choir directed by Laurence Equilbey, the vocal ensemble Sequenza 9.3 directed by Catherine Simonpietri, the Artie's "family", and more recently with the Consuelo Orchestra directed by Victor-Julien Laferrière and many others.