Born in Paris, Jean-Claude Casadesus studied percussion and composition at the Paris Conservatoire, composing several scores for cinema and the theatre. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux in Paris and Pierre Boulez in Basel. Appointed permanent conductor at the Paris Opéra and the Opéra-Comique in 1969, he contributed to the development of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire with Pierre Dervaux and remained its Assistant Director until 1976. In that year he founded the Orchestre National de Lille and, as Director, has devoted most of his time and energy to its development since then. Under his direction, the Orchestra National de Lille has become one of the leading orchestras in France, renowned in Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan for its wide repertoire, its dynamism and the quality of its artistic vision, based as it is on ethical values and long-term projects. After an invitation to Salzburg in 1985, Jean-Claude Casadesus has taken the orchestra to Africa and toured Germany and the former Soviet Union to high acclaim. Further success came with tours to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Hong Kong, as well as regular visits to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw for the Summer Festival, and also to Belgium. In an international career Jean-Claude Casadesus has appeared in Philadelphia, St Petersburg, Berlin, Moscow, Prague, London, Vienna, Dresden, Leipzig and Montreal, among other musical centres. His work in the opera-house has taken him to the Lille Opéra, the Opéra National de Paris, the Opéra National de Lyon and the
September 2004
