Ophélie Gaillard (born 13 June 1974) is a French

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Early life

Gaillard was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. While studying at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

, she obtained three first prizes in music: one in

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

in the class of Maurice Bourgue, one in cello in the class of Philippe Muller, and one in baroque cello in the class of Christophe Coin. A recipient of a Certificate of Aptitude in cello pedagogy and a license in musicology from the Sorbonne, Gaillard has been teaching since 2000. In 1998, she won third prize in the

International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition () is a music competition in Leipzig, Germany, held by the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1964 to 1996 with five subjects and is now held every two ...

, and was voted "Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year" at the Victoires de la musique classique in 2003. She is a recitalist and champion of the solo cello repertoire, from the Bach suites to contemporary music.

Career

Her recordings from the Ambroisie label of the solo Bach cello suites, Britten's cello suites, and his cello sonata with pianist Vanessa Wagner were noticed by music critics internationally.

Collaborations

Since 2004, she has worked with accordionist Pascal Contet. She also collaborates with dancers, in particular Daniel Larrieu and

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (born 10 March 1976) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer and director. He has made over 50 choreographic pieces and received two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, three Ballet Tanz awards for best cho ...

. In 2005, Ophélie Gaillard founded Pulcinella, a chamber ensemble dedicated to playing Baroque music on period instruments.

Instruments

Ophélie Gaillard plays a rare cello made by Francesco Goffriller in 1737. After a knifepoint robbery in Paris on 15 February 2018, reported on Facebook, it was anonymously returned two days later.

References

External links

Official site

Site for her ensemble, Pulcinella
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaillard, Ophelie Musicians from Paris 1974 births French women classical cellists French classical cellists Living people Conservatoire de Paris alumni 21st-century French women musicians 21st-century French cellists 21st-century French classical musicians 20th-century French cellists 20th-century French classical musicians 20th-century French women musicians