Claire Levacher

Ever since her successful debut at the Opéra National de Lyon in 2009 with Le Roi malgré lui by Chabrier (staged by Laurent Pelly), Claire Levacher has established herself internationally as a conductor in operatic and symphonic repertoire. Her eclectic repertoire allows her to conduct the contemporary opera To the Lighthouse of Zesses Seglias at the Bregenz Festival (2017) as well as a new production of La Bohème by Puccini at the Theater an der Wien-Kammeroper, Béatrice et Bénédict of Berlioz at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (Illinois, USA) or a recording of Haydn religious works with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Claire Levacher regularly conducts works from the symphonic repertoire in Switzerland (Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne), in Germany (Kammerensemble Neue Musik de Berlin), in France (Orchestre National de Lorraine, Orchestre National d'Ile-de-France, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre d'Auvergne, Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestre Poitou-Charentes, Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, Orchestre de Bayonne-Côte Basque), in Czech Republic (the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra), in Italy (Filarmonia Veneta), in China (Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra) and in Lebanon (the National Orchestra of Lebanon). She also conducted the Vietnam Philharmonic Orchestra on a tour at the Beethoven Festspiel in Bonn and at the Berliner Philharmonie.

After being awarded the second prize at the prestigious Prague Spring International Music Festival, she was invited by the Prague Opera to conduct La Voix humaine by Poulenc and a new production of Carmen by Bizet in 2004. She also conducted Le Pauvre Matelot by Milhaud at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, La Finta giardiniera by Mozart and L'Apostrophe by Jean Françaix at the Studiopéra in Paris, Cosi fan tutte and the Magic Flute by Mozart in Isère, several operettas of Offenbach (La Vie parisienne, La Bonne d’enfant, La Chatte métamorphosée and Les Deux aveugles) in Bourgogne and several productions in Ecuador and India.

After winning the first prize at the International Conducting Competition at the Teatro Comunale of Treviso in Italy, she served as assistant conductor to Peter Maag for The Secret Marriage by Cimarosa and The Magic Flute by Mozart. Since then, she has been assistant conductor to Leopold Hager for Fidelio by Beethoven at the Opéra National de Lyon, Jonathan Darlington for Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček at the Théâtre des Champ-Elysées in Paris, Laurent Petitgirard for Elephant Man at the Opéra de Nice, Paul Mac Creesh for Le Pré aux Clercs at the Opéra Comique and Bertrand de Billy for La Juive of Halévy at the Bayerische Staatsoper of Munich and for Iphigénie en Tauride of Gluck at the Opéra National de Paris. The Theater an der Wien has regularly called upon her services as "studienleiterin" and assistant conductor for performances of works from the French repertoire including Les Contes D'Hoffmann by Offenbach, Iphigénie en Aulide by Gluck, Le Comte Oryby Rossini, Dialogues des Carmélites by Poulenc, Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy, Les Pêcheurs de Perles by Bizet, La Mère Coupable by Milhaud.

A pianist by training, Claire Levacher obtained three first prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, a Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan in the United States and a French government grant to further study conducting by Leopold Hager at the Musikhochschule of Vienna. She taught conducting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris where she currently carries on her educational activities through master classes and has been Musical Director, from 2004 to 2012, of the Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. With this orchestra (founded under the honorary presidency of Myung Whun Chung), she performed at the Cité de la Musique, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Maison de Radio France and worked with conductors including Emmanuel Krivine and Pierre Boulez.

In recognition of her services to French musical life, Claire Levacher has been appointed 'Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres' by the French Ministry of Culture.