Raphaël Pichon
Raphaël Pichon (born in 1984 in Paris) is a French countertenor, choral and orchestral conductor. Biography. Raphaël Pichon was a member of the Maîtrise des Petits chanteurs de Versailles during his childhood. He then studied violin and piano at the before joining the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied singing and conducting. First of all a countertenor, he sang under the direction of Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Laurence Equilbey, Paul Agnew, Jean Tubéry, Vincent Dumestre, Bruno Boterf, Michel Laplénie and Sébastien d'Hérin. He also collaborated with and Gabriel Garrido. In 2006, during his studies at the  Paris Conservatory, Raphaël Pichon created the "ensemble Pygmalion", dedicated to the repertoire on period instruments. Very quickly, their recordings received a very favourable reception from the critics: an album of mass compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach ("Missæ Breves", BWV 234 and 235) in 2008, was awarded a golden Diapason, and an Editor's Choice of the British magazine "Gramophone". In September 2012, their third album, "Missa", a recording of the first version of the "Mass in B minor" by Bach was rewarded by the magazine "Télérama". Raphaël Pichon has also directed the chamber choir "OTrente", turned towards the romantic and  contemporary repertoire. Opera. A recording of "Dardanus" by Jean-Philippe Rameau appeared in 2013. In 2015, appeared a live recording of Rameau's "Castor et Pollux". Also in 2015 Pygmalion performed "Dardanus" at the Opéra de Bordeaux in a staged production by Michel Fau.