Guy Touvron (born 15 February 1950) is a French classical trumpet player and music teacher. He is an accomplished soloist, having played with some of Europe's leading orchestras, and has premiered several prominent trumpet concertos. Touvron has given over 3,000 concerts, features on over 70 recordings, and has won several prizes, including three international Grands Prix. Touvron also teaches trumpet and regularly conducts

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es around the world. He has been called "one of the leading pedagogues of trumpet technique and interpretation France has ever produced." He wrote a biography on his mentor

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

, which was published in 2003.

Biography

Guy Touvron was born on 15 February 1950 in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

, France. While his parents were not musicians, his grandfather played the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

. At the age of ten Touvron started playing the cornet, and after a few years he became proficient on both the cornet and trumpet. In 1967 Touvron enrolled at the

Paris Conservatory of Music The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

and studied under classical virtuoso trumpeter

. A year later the Conservatory awarded Touvron first prize for cornet, and a year after that, first prize for trumpet. Touvron held the position of principal trumpet for the

Orchestre National de Lyon The Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) is a French orchestra based in Lyon. Its primary concert venue is l'Auditorium de Lyon. The orchestra operates with the help of a subsidy from the French Ministry of Culture and from the Rhône-Alpes regional ...

between 1969 and 1971, and for the French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra between 1971 and 1974. In 1973 he formed his own group, the Guy Touvron Brass Ensemble, and became a faculty member of the Lyons Conservatory in 1974. In 1990 Touvron began teaching at the Conservatoire National de Région in Paris. He regularly conducts

es around the world, including at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York City, and at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

in Manchester. Many of Touvron's performances are of works by

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

composers like

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...

and

Torelli Torelli may refer to: People * Achille Torelli (1841–1922), Italian playwright *Alec Torelli (born 1987), American professional poker player *Bernard Torelli (1955–2016), French guitarist and audio engineer *Cesare Torelli (died 1615), Italian ...

, but he also performs contemporary classical music and has premiered several prominent trumpet concertos by Ivan Jevtić,

Jacques Loussier Jacques Loussier (26 October 1934 – 5 March 2019) was a French pianist and composer. He arranged jazz interpretations of many of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, such as the ''Goldberg Variations''. The Jacques Loussier Trio, founded in 19 ...

François Rauber François Rauber (19 January 1933 – 14 December 2003) was a French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor known for his works with chansonnier Jacques Brel. He served as the music director for the 1975 film '' Jacques Brel Is Alive and ...

and others. Over 20 compositions have been written for him. Touvron has performed with orchestras such as

I Solisti Veneti I Solisti Veneti is an Italian chamber orchestra founded in Padua in 1959 by Claudio Scimone.English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationall ...

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

di Milano, The Luzern Festival Strings, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, as well as French Orchestras of Lyon, Toulouse,

Pays de Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, Pays de Savoie and Auvergne. He regularly appears in festivals at Lille, Prades, Lanaudière (Canada),

Bachwoche Ansbach The Bachwoche Ansbach (Ansbach Bach Week) is a biennial music festival in Ansbach, Germany, dedicated to the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach, held since 1947. The main venues are the Orangerie and the great hall of the palace Residenz Ansba ...

, Pollenca (Spain), Stresa (Italy), Salzburg (Austria) and Montreux (Switzerland). Touvron features on over 70 recordings, has given over 3,000 concerts, and has won several prizes, including three international Grands Prix in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Geneva and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. In the early 2000s, Touvron wrote a biography on his mentor

entitled ''Maurice André: Une trompette pour la renommée'' (Maurice André: A Trumpet for Fame), which was published in 2003. Asteroid 278197 Touvron, discovered by French astronomer

Jean-Claude Merlin Jean-Claude Merlin (born 1954) is a French astronomer, founder-president of the Burgundy Astronomical Society (french: Société Astronomique de Bourgogne) and a discoverer of minor planets. He was laureate of the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Fond ...

in 2007, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 5 January 2015 ().

Selected discography

* Guy Touvron with Wolfgang Karius: ''Splendour & Magnificence: Glory of the Baroque Trumpet'' (2007) * Guy Touvron: ''Trompette – Etudes Françaises du XXè Siècle'' (2000) * Guy Touvron and Franck Pulcini: ''Sonnez Trompettes'' (1995) * Guy Touvron and Carine Clement: ''Le Concert'' * Guy Touvron and Luigi Celeghin: ''Fantasia per tromba e organo'' (1985) * Guy Touvron and Nelly Cotin: ''Pavane'' * Guy Touvron and Isabelle Régis: ''Les plus beaux Noëls de nos Provinces'' * Guy Touvron and Nelly Cotin: ''La Trompette de toutes les Mélodies'' * Guy Touvron and Barbara Löcher: ''Cantate 51 – J.S. Bach / Sur les rives du Tibre – Scarlatti'' (1990) * Guy Touvron and Daniel Colin: ''Trompette au bal musette'' (2001) * Guy Touvron, Marie Rigaud, Catherine Ramona and Isabelle Ramona: ''Capricci armonici'' (1997) * Guy Touvron (soloist) with Orchestre A. Vivaldi: ''Hommage à l'Europe'' (2001) * Guy Touvron (soloist) with Prague Chamber Orchestra: ''Mozart – Touvron'' * Guy Touvron (soloist) with Orchestre d'Harmonie de la Garde Républicaine: ''De List à Nougaro'' * Guy Touvron (soloist) with Orchestre d'Harmonie de la ville de Vichy: ''Orchestre d'Harmonie de la ville de Vichy avec Guy Touvron'' * Guy Touvron Brass Ensemble: ''Ensemble de cuivres Guy Touvron'' * Guy Touvron Brass Ensemble: ''Gershwin'' (1992) * Guy Touvron Quintette: ''Ragtimes'' (1992) Source:

Bibliography

* Guy Touvron: ''Maurice André: Une trompette pour la renommée'' (Rocher, 2003) – biography of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Touvron, Guy 1950 births Living people People from Vichy French classical trumpeters Male trumpeters French cornetists French biographers 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French musicians Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French male non-fiction writers 21st-century trumpeters 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians