Ensemble Pygmalion & Raphaël Pichon
Biography Ensemble Pygmalion & Raphaël Pichon
Ensemble Pygmalion
Alongside the canonical works explored by Pygmalion (Bach’s Passions, Rameau’s lyrical tragedies, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn’s Elias, Monteverdi’s Vespers), the ensemble creates original programs that highlight the links between works while incorporating the spirit of their creation: Mozart & the Weber Sisters, Miranda (music by Purcell), Stravaganza d’Amore! (evoking the birth of opera at the Medici court), Enfers (with Stéphane Degout), the cycle Bach en 7 paroles (at the Philharmonie de Paris), and Libertà! (retracing the beginnings of Mozart’s dramma giocoso).
Pygmalion has created for itself a singular identity within the international musical landscape, thanks to its critical and popular success with challenging projects that often blend the old and the new.
When performing operas, Pygmalion has collaborated with such directors as Katie Mitchell, Romeo Castellucci, Simon McBurney, Aurélien Bory, Jetske Mijnssen, Pierre Audi, Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq, Cyril Teste, Clément Cogitore, and Michel Fau.
As the artist-in-residence at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, Pygmalion has for several years offered Kiosque Pygmalion, a season of chamber music concerts and free educational workshops open to all. In 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pygmalion launched the Pulsations festival in Bordeaux.
Pygmalion performs regularly on the biggest stages in France (Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra royal de Versailles, Opéra-Comique, Opéra de Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Toulouse, among others) and internationally (Vienna, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Hamburg, Dortmund, Berlin, Frankfurt, Essen, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Milan, Naples, Beijing, Hong Kong, and other cities).
Pygmalion has been recording for harmonia mundi since 2014.
Among the awards the ensemble has received: Gramophone Classical Music Awards (United Kingdom), OPER! Awards 2025 and Preis der Schallplattenkritik (Germany), Edison Klassiek Award (Netherlands), Diapason d’Or of the Year, Choc de Classica and Victoire de la Musique Classique (France).
Pygmalion is artist-in-residence at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. It enjoys the support of the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Ville de Bordeaux, Département de la Gironde, région Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Centre national de la musique. Ensemble associated with the Opéra-Comique (2023–2027), Pygmalion receives support from Château Haut-Bailly, the ensemble’s honorary patron. Pygmalion is artist-in-residence at Fondation Singer-Polignac as an associate artist and is a member of the Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés (FEVIS), Scène Ensemble, and Rézo MUSA. Fondation d’entreprise Société Générale and Eren Groupe are patrons of Pygmalion.
Since its creation, Pygmalion has been driven by a collective passion for daring, risk-taking, dedication to the past, belief in the future, friendship, music, tenacity, dreams, pushing boundaries, legacy, curiosity, innovation, independence, and openness to the world! Thanks to increasingly diverse audiences and outstanding partners, everyone at Pygmalion looks to the stars, listens to the sounds of the world, and strives to ensure that music continues to change our lives.
Raphaël Pichon
A leader of his generation, Raphaël Pichon develops original and highly personal projects, while drawing on a rich tradition.
A leader of his generation, Raphaël Pichon develops original and highly personal projects, while drawing on a rich tradition.
Raphaël Pichon began his musical training with the violin, piano, and singing. As a young professional singer, he performed under the direction of Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, and Ton Koopman, as well as with Geoffroy Jourdain’s Les Cris de Paris.
In 2006, he founded Pygmalion, a choir and orchestra performing on period instruments. Notable projects in recent years include: the creation of Trauernacht, based on music of Bach and directed by Katie Mitchell (2014); the rediscovery and staging of Rossi’s Orfeo at the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Opéra Royal de Versailles (2016); the Vespers with Pierre Audi (Holland Festival, BBC Proms, Royal Chapel of Versailles, Leipzig Bach Festival); a staged version of A German Requiem by Jochen Sandig at the submarine base in Bordeaux; stage productions of The Magic Flute by Simon McBurney (2018); Mozart’s Requiem with Romeo Castellucci (2019); Samson, a loose recreation of Rameau’s lost opera, with Claus Guth (2024) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; and Lakmé (2022) and L’Autre Voyage with music by Schubert (2024) at the Opéra-Comique.
In 2020, he created the Pulsations festival in Bordeaux. In 2024, in partnership with Arte and France Musique, he embarked on the Les Chemins de Bach project with Pygmalion, a grand journey on foot and by bicycle between Arnstadt and Lübeck.
As a guest conductor, Raphaël Pichon has conducted the Freiburger Barockorchester, Musicaeterna, the Scintilla of the Zurich Opera, the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, the Mozarteum Orchester, and most recently the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. The 2025–2026 season marks his debut at the Paris Opera, as well as with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra.
His recordings are released on the harmonia mundi label: the imaginary opera Enfers with baritone Stéphane Degout (2018), Libertà! featuring little-known masterpieces by Mozart, Bach’s Motets (2020) and St Matthew Passion (2022), Mein Traum (Schubert, Schumann, Weber—2022), Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Virgin (2023), Mozart’s Requiem (2024), Bach’s Mass in B minor (2025), and Brahms’s A German Requiem (2025).
