Pierre Cao (born 22 December 1937 in

Dudelange Dudelange (; lb, Diddeleng , german: Düdelingen) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 19,734 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. , the town of Dudela ...

) is a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and conductor.Biography
/ref> He studied composition and conducting at the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

Classical music

Cao is the regular conductor of Arsys Bourgogne with whom he has recorded Biber's Requiem and other baroque works. He taught at the Luxembourg Conservatoire until 1998 and has led various vocal ensembles in Luxembourg and the surrounding region. Cao is a co-founder of the ''Institut Européen du Chant Choral'' (INECC).

Selected discography

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

– piano concertos. Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio-Télé Luxembourg de France. *

Giovanni Felice Sances Giovanni Felice Sances (also Sancies, Sanci, Sanes, Sanchez, ca. 160024 November 1679) was an Italian singer and a Baroque composer. He was renowned in Europe during his time. Sances studied at the Collegio Germanico in Rome from 1609 to 1614. ...

, Johann Michael Zächer &

Johann Melchior Gletle Johann Melchior Gletle (July 1626 – 6 September 1683) was a Swiss organist, Kapellmeister and composer. Life Gletle was born in Bremgarten. He was a prolific composer of church music - masses, psalms, motets, and also several pieces for the tro ...

– Vespers in Vienna. Ambroisie. * Bach – Motets Les Basses Réunies. Ambroisie 2006 *

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 173710 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. ...

– Missa Sancti Hieronymi MH 254 &

Georg Druschetzky Jiří Družecký (german: Georg Druschetzky, also known as Giorgio Druschetzky, also Druzechi, Druzecky, Druschetzki, Držecky, Truschetzki; 7 April 1745, Jemníky – 21 June 1819, Budapest) was a Czech composer, oboist, and timpanist. Life and ...

Messe en si bémol majeur. Johannette Zomer, Guy de Mey et Britta Schwarz. Festival d'Ambronay 2007 *

Théodore Gouvy Louis Théodore Gouvy (3 July 1819 – 21 April 1898) was a French/German composer. Biography Gouvy was born into a French-speaking family in the village of Goffontaine, then a Prussian village in the Sarre region (now Saarbrücken-Schafbrücke, ...

– Electre, opus 85 – scène dramatique pour solistes, choeur et orchestre. François Pollet, Michael Myers, Marcel Vanaud, Cécile Eloir. Choeurs et Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy. (2CD)

K617 K617 is a French classical music record label based in Metz and founded by Alain Pacquier, music author and creator of the Festival de Saintes at the Abbaye aux Dames in Charente-Maritime, and the Festival de Sarrebourg (July) at the Couvent de ...

1999

Eurovision

Cao was the musical director for both the 1973 and 1984

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

s, staged in the Grand Duchy at the Nouveau Theatre. He conducted

's winning song "

Tu te reconnaîtras "Tu te reconnaîtras" (; "You'll Recognize Yourself"), sung in French by French singer Anne-Marie David representing , was the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 – the first time a country won the contest two years in successi ...

" in 1973. As such, he was the only conductor ever conducting one of Luxembourg's five winning Eurovision entries. Unusually, he did not conduct Luxembourg's entry in 1984 (it was conducted by Pascal Stive), despite being the show's musical director. He did however conduct the German and Cypriot entries.

References

1937 births Living people 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians Luxembourgian composers Luxembourgian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Eurovision Song Contest conductors People from Dudelange {{Europe-composer-stub