About
Born on 15 September 1994, Raphaël Sévère received a very early musical education : the piano, the violin and the cello. Aged 8, he took up the clarinet at the Conservatoire of Nantes while continuing studying the piano.
At 11, he made his first solo appearance in China playing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birthday with the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of YU Feng, the artistic director of the Beijing Opera Orchestra.
One year later, he was a prize winner of five international competitions including the Japan Clarinet Society competition in Tokyo where he won the first prize and the four special prizes (age-group 20).
At 15, baccalaureate holder, Raphael became the youngest French artist gaining a nomination as "Solo instrumental discovery" at the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2010.
Admitted at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 14, he obtained the master’s degree with high honors in June 2013.
In November 2013, Raphaël won the prestigious competition of Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, where he was awarded First Prize and eight special prizes.
In 2014, he is Prize-winner of Safran Foundation, Prize-winner of Banque Populaire Foundation, and artist-in-residence at Singer-Polignac Foundation.
As a soloist, Raphaël played Mozart concerto in tour with the Ile de France National Orchestra, with the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Spivakov at Colmar International Festival, with Mulhouse Symphonic Orchestra, Cannes PACA Orchestra at Festival Génération Virtuoses in Antibes, Sinfonia Varsovia at La Folle Journée in Japan.
He performed Nielsen concerto with Tours Région Centre Orchestra, Copland concerto with Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra on Arte TV and with Auvergne Orchestra at La Folle Journée de Nantes.
At Musical Journeys in Europe 2013, Raphaël played Françaix concerto and Debussy Rhapsody with the Budapest Chamber Orchestra. He played Weber concerto with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta at the French May 2014, and Weber concertino with the Junges Sinfonie Orchester Berlin in Stars of tomorrow, an Arte television programme presented by Rolando Villazon.
In September 2014, Raphaël plays Artie Shaw concerto with the Polish Chamber Orchestra at the Varsovia National Opera and with the ensemble Le Balcon at the Paris-Bastille Opera.
In the field of chamber music, Raphaël performed at La Folle Journée de Nantes and La Folle Journée in Japan with Modigliani quartet, Prazák quartet, Sine Nomine quartet, Les Esprits trio, Martha Arguerich, Boris Berezovsky, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Emmanuel Strosser, Gidon Kremer, David Grimal, François Salque.
He has given many recitals with pianist Adam Laloum including the Louvre Auditorium and the Orsay Museum Auditorium, Grenoble Auditorium, Menton Festival, Musiques Vivantes Festival, Musicales de Mortagne, Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele, also with Igor Tchetuev at Festival de Radio France et Montpellier.
Raphaël has been invited at Grand Théâtre d’Aix en Provence, Eygalières Festival, Wissembourg Festival, Maurice Ravel Academy in Saint-Jean de Luz, in Paris at Salle Gaveau, Opéra Comique, Cité de la Musique, Concerts de Poche, with Ebène quartet, Olivier Charlier, Gérard Caussé, Gary Hoffman, Jérôme Pernoo, Xavier Philips, Philippe Bernold, Nora Gubisch, Jérôme Ducros, etc.
In October 2013, France Musique gave him a "carte blanche" during which he had the privilege of giving the world premiere of Francis Poulenc’s Le voyageur sans bagage.