French conductor Alphonse Cemin has established a distinctive career spanning opera, symphonic repertoire and contemporary music. Equally at home in the classical and bel canto repertoire and in the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, he has conducted at the Salzburg Festival, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra national de Lorraine, Opéra de Rennes, Opéra de Rouen and with English Touring Opera, among others.

A founding member of the ensemble Le Balcon, Cemin has been closely associated with some of the most ambitious contemporary music projects of recent years and has collaborated extensively with composers including George Benjamin and Peter Eötvös.

2026/27 SEASON

Alphonse Cemin opens the 2026/27 opera season conducting a new production of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, directed by Lorraine de Sagazan, at Angers Nantes Opéra. He conducts the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire for performances in Nantes and Angers, before returning to the production at the Opéra de Rennes with the Orchestre National de Bretagne.

In February 2027, Cemin makes his debut at Theater Basel conducting Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, in Vincent Huguet’s production with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, returning for a further series of performances in May and June.

Alongside his conducting engagements, Cemin continues as Artistic Director of the Lundis Musicaux at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet in Paris, where his 2026/27 collaborations as pianist include recitals with Stéphane Degout, Meow Meow and Alexis Cárdenas.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Recent operatic highlights include his debut at the Salzburg Festival conducting Peter Eötvös’s Three Sisters, Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi with English Touring Opera, Britten’s Curlew River at the Opéra national de Lorraine and Opéra de Rennes, and George Benjamin’s Picture a day like this at the Opéra national du Rhin.

He has also conducted Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Opéra de Rouen, Bellini’s I puritani with the Athens State Orchestra, Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at the Opéra national de Lorraine, Rameau’s Les Indes galantes at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet and Opéra de Lille.

Contemporary music occupies an important place in Cemin’s artistic work. As a founding member of Le Balcon, he has participated in the ensemble’s major artistic projects as conductor, pianist and musical director. His repertoire includes works by Stockhausen, Boulez, Eötvös and George Benjamin, and he has conducted a European tour of Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître.

Cemin has worked alongside conductors and composers including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano, George Benjamin, Marc Minkowski, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Raphaël Pichon and Marc-André Dalbavie, and has appeared at institutions including the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bayerische Staatsoper, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and Opéra-Comique.

Originally trained as a pianist and flautist, Alphonse Cemin studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He was named HSBC Laureate Pianist at the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2010, received the Interpretation Prize at the Stockhausen Courses in Kürten in 2013, and was awarded the Prix Gabriel Dussurget at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2017.