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The French conductor and music pedagogue, Hervé Klopfenstein, began his musical studies in Nice, Lyon and Lausanne where he won many first flute virtuosity prizes as well as rewards in musical composition (counterpoint, fugue prizes and harmony at the Conservatoire National de Lyon).
While doing a bit of professional way with his instrument, recitals, as a soloist and orchestral musician (Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre mondial des Jeunesses musicales), Hervé Klopfenstein taught music theory until 1987 in the professional classes at the Conservatoire de Lausanne and ran parallel to the course of conducting (Helmuth Rilling at the Stuttgart Bach Academy, René Klopfenstein, Pierre Delvaux in Paris) and musicology (Jacques Chailley and Pierrette Mari, La Sorbonne).
In 1982, Hervé Klopfenstein was appointed Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique Lausannois (Symphony Orchestra of Lausanne) that has developed and restructured over the years by giving him radiation we know today under the name Orchestre Symphonique et Universitaire de Lausanne (Symphony Orchestra and University of Lausanne). From 1984 to 2002 he was Musical Director of the Landwehr de Fribourg which made successful tours in Switzerland and abroad: Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Garnier Opera Monte Carlo or the Tonhalle in Zürich.
In 1989, Hervé Klopfenstein was appointed Musical Directopr of the Orchestre Symphonique Genevois (= GSO; Geneva Symphony Orchestra). The recording made with this orchestra (Robert Schumann / Johannes Brahms) earned him an invitation to France Music to evoke his artistic and pedagogical work in Switzerland. His natural passion for teaching naturally led him to teach conducting at the Conservatoire de Lausanne-Haute Ecole de Musique, an institution in which he is also principal conductor of orchestras.
Although Hervé Klopfenstein has received several awards abroad and giving him the opportunity to conduct prestigious ensembles (Berliner Symphoniker, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Abruzzo Symphony, North Bohemia Suymphony, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre International des Jeunesses Musicales, orchestras in Biel and Winterthur, etc.), he has always devoted in priority to the training and development of ensembles of his region, activities that are his true passion.
Hervé Klopfenstein waas awarded the Prix Culturel Leenaards in 003. He was also associated with strong lyrical productions at the Opéra de Lausanne: Postcard from Morocco in 2004, Peter and the Wolf and Transformations in 2006, Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2008. He conducted the musical Les Miserables in fall 2009.
Since February 2010, Hervé Klopfenstein has been General Manager of the Haute Ecole de Musique et Conservatoire de Lausanne, including the responsibility of Fribourg and Sion sites, as well as the jazz department.
In November 2013, Hervé Klopfenstein left the Artistic Direction of the GSO. During his tenure with the GSO, he has left his mark on the amateur training both its quality requirements by its pedagogical sense. Number of musicians he emplyed 24 years ago are still in the orchestra today, the orchestra would reach the level at which he has directed. |
