Philippe André Lefebvre (born 2 January 1949) is a French classical

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. He is one of three titular organists at

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

and has served as such since 1985. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cathedrale-chartres.org%2Ffichiers%2Fimages_articles%2Farticles-pour-publication-dans-agenda%2F2013%2Fse-philippe-lefebvre.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cathedrale-chartres.org%2Ffr%2Fconcert-d-orgue-par-philippe-lefebvre%2Carticle-514.html&h=600&w=450&tbnid=m2RNtNxHaUVi0M%3A&zoom=1&docid=RljxlcplQB48tM&ei=wyVGVaL0BoP3UpKBgZAL&tbm=isch&client=safari&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=216&page=1&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=0CCYQrQMwAg

Life

Born in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

, Lefebvre first studied philosophy. He took a few lessons from

Pierre Cochereau Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue. Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsible ...

and following his advice, he went to study at the

Conservatoire de Lille The Conservatoire de Lille is a music school in Lille, France. Founded in 1803, it was originally set out as a music conservatory, later branching out into theatre and dance in the second half of the 20th century. The conservatory took the place ...

with

Jeanne Joulain Jeanne Angèle Desirée Yvonne Joulain (22 July 1920 – 1 February 2010) was a French organist, concertist and music educator. Biography Born in Amiens, Joulain's first contact with music was made thanks to her musician parents. Her father, a t ...

, then at the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

where he obtained first prizes in organ, improvisation,

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

. He began by being organist at

Marcq-en-Barœul Marcq-en-Barœul (; pcd, Marke-in-Bareul; older nl, Marke) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is a suburb of the city of Lille, and is immediately adjacent to it on the northeast. It is ...

, then was appointed to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras in November 1968. He then won the Prix de la

Fondation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet The Fondation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet pour la vocation is a foundation in France that was founded in 1960, as La Fondation de la Vocation, by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (then president of Publicis). He had the idea to create the Foundation for Vo ...

and in 1971, the First Prize for improvisation at the Lyon International Competition, when he had

Rolande Falcinelli Rolande Roberte Ginabat-Falcinelli (18 February 1920 – 11 June 2006) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. Biography Rolande Falcinelli (born Ginabat), the grandniece of Marcel Falcinelli and granddaughter of Louis N ...

as his master. In 1973, he won the and then became titular organist of the

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly con ...

. He is a guest at major festivals, as a soloist or with orchestra. He regularly gives concerts and master classes in Europe, the United States, Japan, Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1985, he was appointed titular organist of the

cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

, together with

Yves Devernay Yves Marie-Édouard Devernay (Tourcoing 9 May 1937 – Tourcoing 10 December 1990) was a 20th-century French organist, improviser and composer. Biography First a pupil of Jeanne Joulain at the Roubaix conservatory, in 1958 he joined Rolande ...

Olivier Latry Olivier Jean-Claude Latry (born 22 February 1962) is a French organist, improviser, and composer. He is professor of organ in the Conservatoire de Paris. He became interested in the organ after listening to recordings by Pierre Cochereau. His ...

and

Jean-Pierre Leguay Jean-Pierre Leguay (born 4 July 1939 in Dijon) is a French organist, composer and improviser. He studied with André Marchal, Gaston Litaize, Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Simone Plé-Caussade (counterpoint), and Olivier Messiaen (composition), b ...

. He succeeds his master

. A talented interpreter, he is also recognised as one of the greatest improvisers of his time. Lefebvre was director of the Lille Conservatory from 1979 to 2003, before being appointed director of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral's

Children's Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. From 2002 to 2014, he was professor of

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

at the

. He is also an improvisation teacher at the . Lefebvre is president of the board of directors of the Association Orgue en France, president of the Association des Grandes Orgues de Chartres, president of the association "Les amis de l'orgue et de la collégiale" in Montreal, organist of the Collégiale de Montréal (Département de l'Aude). In HD video, Lefebvre explains the functioning of the Organ of Notre Dame de Paris.Orgue de Notre Dame de Paris
/ref>

References

External links

* "Lefebvre (Philippe)", in

Alain Pâris Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...

, ''Le Nouveau Dictionnaire des interprètes'',

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. It is considered one of the most ...

, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Philippe French classical organists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Conservatoire de Paris faculty 1949 births Living people People from Roubaix