“When the space is filled by a conductor and soloist with the outsize charisma and musicianship of the French oboist Francois Leleux, the effect is doubled.” (The Arts Desk)
François Leleux – conductor and oboist – is renowned for his irrepressible energy and exuberance. He is currently Artistic Partner of Camerata Salzburg. In season 2020/21 he is Artist-in-Residence with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Leleux was previously Artist-in-Association with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and has featured as Artist-in-Residence with orchestras such as hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Berner Symphonieorchester, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife.
In the 2020/21 season, Leleux returns as conductor to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Tonkünstler Orchester, Camerata Salzburg, Mozarteum Orchester and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He debuts as conductor with Orchestre National de Lille, Nederlands Chamber Orkest and Swedish Chamber Orchestra. He has previously conducted orchestras such as Oslo Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, and the Sydney, Gulbenkian, Swedish Radio and BBC Scottish symphony orchestras.
As an oboist Leleux has performed as soloist with orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Swedish Radio and the NHK symphony orchestras. A dedicated chamber musician, he regularly performs worldwide with sextet Les Vents Français and with recital partners Lisa Batiashvili, Eric Le Sage and Emmanuel Strosser.
Committed to expanding the oboe’s repertoire, Leleux has commissioned many new works from composers such as Nicolas Bacri, Michael Jarrell, Giya Kancheli, Thierry Pécou, Gilles Silvestrini and Eric Tanguy. In recent seasons, he has premiered the cor anglais version of Debussy’s Rapsodie for saxophone, arranged especially for him by Silvestrini (2017/18); Jarrell’s oboe concerto Aquateinte (2016/17); and Thierry Escaich’s Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe, whose premiere performances Leleux and his wife Lisa Batiashvili gave with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and New York Philharmonic.
Leleux’s latest recording, ‘Bienvenue en France’, released on Warner Classics is a collaboration with pianist Emmanuel Strosser featuring 20th century French composers including Saint-Saëns, Dutilleux and Debussy and the contemporary Thierry Pécou. As a conductor, Leleux and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra released an album of works by Bizet and Gounod for Linn Records in 2019. His album of works by Hummel and Haydn, recorded with Münchener Kammerorchester, received award recognition in 2016. Other recordings include works by J.S. Bach with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Mozart with Camerata Salzburg, and Strauss’s Oboe Concerto with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding.
François Leleux is a Professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
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© Photo: Thomas Kost
