Pierre Génisson

Clarinettist Pierre Génisson is one of the most renowned representatives of the French wind school. Rewarded in 2018 by the “Cino del Duca” Prize awarded by the Academy of Fine Arts of the Institut de France, Pierre Génisson is also the winner of prestigious international competitions such as the Carl Nielsen International Competition, the Jacques Lancelot International Competition of Tokyo as well as the Banque Populaire, Safran, and “Musique et Vin au clos Vougeot” foundations.

As skilled on modern instruments as on ancient instruments, Pierre Génisson is regularly invited to perform as a soloist with prestigious orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester-Berlin, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC orchestras, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Turku Philharmonic, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Sichuan Symphony, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Orchestre de Bretagne, Orchestre de Montpellier, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Düsseldorf Symphoniker, Insula Orchestra.

In 2026-27, Pierre will be Artist in Residence with the Orchestre National de Bretagne, joining them in Weber’s concertos in September, in a Play & Conduct programme in December, and for the premiere of Golfam Khayam’s clarinet concerto in April. Highlights of the season include concerts in London (Wigmore Hall), Montreal (Salle Bourgie), Paris (Philharmonie, Salle Gaveau), Kronberg, Hamburg, Verbier, Schloss Elmau, La Seine Musicale, with Steven Isserlis, the Jerusalem Quartet, Martha Argerich, Edgar Moreau, Frank Braley, Bruno Fontaine, Nemanja Radulovic, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Karol Beffa, Raphaël Merlin, with the Symphoniker Hamburg, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestre National Avignon-Provence, Orchestre de Saint-Étienne, Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine.

Pierre collaborates with world-renowned conductors such as Krystof Urbansky, Olari Elts, Gergely Madaras, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Darell Ang, Sacha Goetzel, Veronika Eberle, Andreas Ottensamer, Alexandre Bloch, Laurence Equilbey, Ton Koopman, Lionel Bringuier.

He is regularly invited to festivals such as Verbier, Gstaad, Crans-Montana, Hong Kong, Bremen Festival, Würzburg MozartFest, Tsinandali, Hamburg Martha Argerich, Musikfestspiele Dresden, Menton, Colmar, Évian, Festival Ravel Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Festival du Périgord Noir, Six-Fours-les-Plages, Royan Jeudis Musicaux, Un Violon sur le Sable, Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise, Orangerie de Sceaux…

In addition to his activities as a soloist, Pierre Génisson multiplies musical encounters with some of the most famous string quartets (Ebène, Modigliani, Jerusalem, Zemlinsky, Hermès, Van Kuijk, etc.), as well as soloists such as Maxim Vengerov, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nemanja Radulovic, Marc Bouchkov, Miguel Da Silva, Lise Berthaud, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, David Kadouch, Frank Braley, Denis Kozhukhin, Antoine Tamestit, Steven Isserlis, Daniel Müller-Schott, Michel Dalberto, David Bismuth, Bruno Fontaine, The Soloists of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Patrick Gallois, Marielle Nordmann, Emmanuel Ceysson, Karine Deshayes or Delphine Haidan.

A fervent defender of today’s music, Pierre Génisson promotes French music abroad and collaborates with many composers, including Tristan Murail, Thierry Escaich, Eric Montalbetti, Karol Beffa and Eric Tanguy, who has dedicated several concertos and chamber works to him. Pierre Génisson also devotes part of his time to transmission, through numerous masterclasses around the world and at the Normal School of Music in Paris Alfred Cortot, where he is a teacher.

Pierre Génisson has been an exclusive Erato-Warner artist since 2023. The first album of this collaboration is dedicated to Mozart, with Concerto Köln, and completes an already rich discography unanimously acclaimed by critics (Diapason d’or, Choc de l’année de Classica, ffff de Télérama, “CD of the week” from the Sunday Times, Gramophone, Clef d’Or from Resmusica…). In 2024, Pierre released a “Songbook” album, featuring works from the Great American Songbook, with guests such as Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson, Youn Sun Nah, Kimberose, in transcriptions by pianist Bruno Fontaine.

Latest release in October 2026 (Warner Classics): Weber and the Clarinet, featuring Weber’s complete works for clarinet, with the Mozarteum Salzburg Orchester & Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Frank Braley.

Pierre Génisson trained at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris with Michel Arrignon for clarinet, and Claire Désert, Amy Flammer and Jean Sulem for chamber music. After having obtained the first prizes unanimously in these two disciplines, he went to perfect his skills at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with Yehuda Gilad where he obtained an Artist Diploma.

Pierre Génisson is an active Ambassador for the Buffet Crampon and Vandoren brands.