Damien Guillon (Counter-tenor)

Born: 1981 - France

The French counter-tenor, Damien Guillon, began his musical training in 1989 at the Maîtrise de Bretagne directed by Jean-Michel Noël, studying singing, music theory, music history, harmony and organ, and received from childhood a complete musical education. He participated in numerous concerts in the choir, and very early began to appear as a soprano soloist in the St John Passion (BWV 245) by J.S. Bach, Vespers to the Virgin by C. Monteverdi and the Magic Flute by W.A. Mozart at the Ópera de Rennes. From 1998 to 2001, he studied at the Maîtrise du Center de Musique Baroque de Versailles, directed by Olivier Schneebeli. To perfect his vocal technique and deepen his research on the interpretation of early music, he studied also with Howard Crook, Jérôme Corréas, Gisèle Fixe, Viviane Durand, Noëlle Barker and Maarten Koningsberger. Parallel to singing, he studied organ with Frédéric Desenclos and Véronique Le Guen, and won the Premiers Prix for basso continuo and hasrpsichord at the Conservatoire de Boulogne-Billancourt in the class and Frédéric Michel and Laure Morabito. In 2004 he entered the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis to study with the counter-tenor Andreas Scholl.

Damien Guillon has sung as a soloist with many early music ensembles under the baton of renowned conductors such as Vincent Dumestre and the Poème Harmonique, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Ensemble Matheus, Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort, Jérôme Corréas and Les Paladins, Françoise Lasserre and Akadêmia Ensemble, Gilbert Bezzina and l'Ensemble Baroque de Nice, Martin Gester and Le Parlement de Musique, Arie Van Beek and l'Orchestre d'Auvergne, Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel, Jean-Claude Malgoire and La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, as well as with Christophe Rousset and Philippe Herreweghe. His broad repertoire encompasses Songs of the Renaissance and the great oratorios and operas of the Baroque (St John Passion (BWV 245), Mass in B minor (BWV 232), Lutheran Masses, Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) and Cantatas for alto solo by J.S. Bach, Messiah by George Frideric Handel's, King Arthur and Dido and Aeneas by H. Purcell).

Damien Guillon is regularly invited to give recitals in France and abroad, and has participated in several stage productions, among them Athalia by G.F. Handel under the baton of Paul McCreesh. He has participated in a dozen recordings and performed at major European festivals of early music: Versailles, Ambronay, Beaune, Utrecht, Rome, Lisbon.

In 2006, Damien Guillon sang the Witch in Dido. During the 2006-2007 season, he performed at the Théatre du Châtelet in Paris, in the Magnificat (BWV 243) by J.S. Bach with Les Folies Françoises and Patrick Cohën-Akenine, and sang the roles of Arcanio in Teseo by G.F. Handel at the Opera de Nice under the baton of Gilbert Bezzina and Anfinomo in Il Ritorno d'Ulisse by C. Monteverdi at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels under the baton of Philippe Pierlot.

Source: Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla Website & France Musique Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (July 2009)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (July 2009)

Damien Guillon: Short Biography | Ensembles: Le Banquet Céleste
Bach Discography: Recordings of Vocal Works

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Philippe Herreweghe

Alto

BWV 11 [2^nd], BWV 12 [2^nd], BWV 21 [2^nd], BWV 21 [3^rd, Video], BWV 44 [2^nd], BWV 46, BWV 48, BWV 93 [2^nd], BWV 105 [2^nd], BWV 109, BWV 125 [3^rd, Audio/Video], BWV 138 [3^rd]
CD-20 (2010): Bachfest Leipzig 2010: BWV 197, BWV 120 [2^nd recording], BWV 119 [2^nd recording]
C-24 (2016): BWV 101, BWV 115, BWV 103
U-5 (2014, Video): BWV 43 [2^nd recording], BWV 6 [1^st recording], BWV 11 [3^rd recording]
U-10 (2014, Video): BWV 6 [2^nd recording]
Video (2015): BWV 62 [2^nd], BWV 91 [2^nd], BWV 40, BWV 63 [2^nd]
BWV 225-230 [2^nd]
[V-15] (2011): BWV 232 [3^rd recording]
[V-21] (2014): BWV 232 [4^th recording]
V-9 (2010, Video): BWV 244 [4^th recording]
V-17 (2012): BWV 244 [5^th recording]
[V-20] (2017, Audio): BWV 244 [6^th recording]
[V-19] (2018, Audio): BWV 245 [4^th recording, solo]
[V-22] (2018): BWV 245 [5^th recording, Arias]
BWV 248 [2^nd, DVD], BWV 249 [3^rd]

Philippe Herreweghe

Alto

Member of Collegium Vocale Gent:
C-22 (2012): BWV 25, BWV 138 [3^rd],, BWV 105 [2^nd], BWV 46
C-23 (2013): BWV 44 [2^nd], BWV 48, BWV 73 [2^nd], BWV 109
C-24 (2016): BWV 101, BWV 115, BWV 103
[V-22] (2018): BWV 245 [5^th recording]

Peter Kooy

Alto

BWV 225-230, BWV Anh 159

Sigiswald Kuijken

Alto

Video: BWV 22, BWV 23, BWV 75

Françoise Lasserre

Alto

[C-1] (2008-2009): BWV 12, BWV 78, BWV 118, BWV 150
[CV-1] (2010, Video): BWV 198
[V-1] (2011, Video): BWV 244 [Evangelist]

Jean-Claude Malgoire

Alto

BWV 244

Raphaël Pichon

Alto

C-1 (2014): BWV 244a [2^nd recording]
[C-3] (2014): BWV 130, BWV 149
[VV-1] (2016, Video): BWV 244 [1^st recording, Alto 1]
[VV-2] (2016, Video): BWV 244 [2^nd recording, Alto 1]
[VV-4] (2013; Video): BWV 245 [1^st recording;]

Raphaël Pichon

Alto

Member of Ensemble Pygmalion:
[VV-1] (2016, Video): BWV 244 [1^st recording]; J. Kuhnau: Motet Tristis est anima mea; J. Handl Gallus: Ecce quomodo moritur justus
[VV-2] (2016, Video): BWV 244 [2^nd recording]; J. Kuhnau: Motet Tristis est anima mea; J. Handl Gallus: Ecce quomodo moritur justus

Marcel Ponseele

Alto

BWV 27, BWV 33, BWV 46, BWV 53, BWV 55, BWV 102, BWV 103, BWV 131, BWV 146, BWV 177

Jordi Savall

Alto

[V-3] (SACD+DVD, 2013): BWV 243

Masaaki Suzuki

Alto

BWV 100, BWV 118 [2^nd version], BWV 120a, BWV 134a, BWV 195, BWV 197
BWV 225-230, BWV Anh 159
[V-13] (2019): BWV 244 [2^nd recording]
[V-14] (2020): BWV 245 [4^th recording]

Masaaki Suzuki

Alto

Member of Bach Collegium Japan:
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 51: BWV 195, BWV 192, BWV 157, BWV 120a
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 54: BWV 14, BWV 100, BWV 197, BWV 197a
Secular Cantatas Vol. 2: BWV 208, BWV 134a
[V-13] (2019): BWV 244 [2^nd recording]
[V-14] (2020): BWV 245 [4^th recording]

György Vashegyi

Alto

[V-6] (2017): BWV 232 [2^nd recording]

Jos van Veldhoven

Alto

AOB Video: BWV 29, BWV 99, BWV 100, BWV 120, BWV 144

Links to other Sites

Damien Guillon, contratenor (Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla) [Spanish]
France Musique: Damien Guillon [French]