Raphaël Sévère


Raphaël Sévère born 15 September 1994 in Rennes, is a French clarinettist and composer.

Biography

At the age of 12, Raphaël Sévère won 1st prize and the special prize at the Japan Clarinet Society competition in the 18-20 age category. After gaining a nomination as ‘Solo Instrumental Discovery’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique when aged fifteen, he went on to win the prestigious Young Concerts Artists International Auditions in New York in November 2013, where he was awarded First Prize and eight special prizes.
Aged 8, he took up the clarinet at the Conservatoire de Nantes. At 14, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris where he obtained in June 2013 the master of arts degree with high honors.
Raphaël Sévère has been invited to play as a soloist with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Sinfonia Varsovia, National Philharmonic of Russia, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Korean National Symphony Orchestra. He played in France with many orchestras including Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Orchestre national d'Île-de-France, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire.
He performed at Berlin Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Auditorium du Louvre, KKL Lucerne, New York Alice Tully Hall, Seoul Arts Center.
In the field of chamber music, he performed with Pražák Quartet, Modigliani Quartet, Ébène Quartet, Trio Wanderer, Trio Karenine, Martha Argerich, Boris Berezovsky, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Adam Laloum, Gidon Kremer, Renaud Capuçon, David Grimal, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Gérard Caussé, Antoine Tamestit, Gary Hoffman, Xavier Phillips.
Raphaël Sévère regularly gives masterclasses in Europe and Asia. In 2024, he was appointed clarinet professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris.
Always attracted by creation and himself a composer, his works are published by L'empreinte mélodique.

Compositions

  • Obscurs for clarinet and guitar.
  • Entre les liens for clarinet and piano.
  • Sept Miniatures for piano.
  • Entre chien et Loup for guitar.
  • Mojenn, legend for clarinet and orchestra.
  • Le pont d'Arcole for violin, cello, piano.
  • Orages d'acier for violin, clarinet, piano.
  • Partita for strings trio.
  • La 7e preuve for soprano saxophone and piano.
  • Non mudera for euphonium and piano, commissioned by Corentin Morvan.
  • Comme si for flute, clarinet, violin and cello.
  • Phoenix, for viola, clarinet and orchestra.

    Discography

  • Récital de musique française, Hort 536, live concert held on 23 June 2007 in Cholet. Works by Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, Ernest Chausson, Gabriel Pierné with Tünde Hajdu, pianist. Awards : Diapason, Classic Info Disque, Classica Repertoire.
  • Opus 2, Thys 004, July 2010. Works by Bohuslav Martinu, Emil Cossetto, Sergei Taneïev, Witold Lutoslawski, Zoltán Kodály, Malcolm Arnold, Arthur Honegger, Ferruccio Busoni, Jean Françaix with Tünde Hajdu, pianist. Awards : Diapason.
  • Folksongs, Naïve V5365, May 2014. Vocal works by Berio, Brahms, Falla, Granados, Obradors with Nora Gubisch, mezzo-soprano and Alain Altinoglu, pianist and conductor. Awards : Télérama.
  • Brahms, Mirare 250, September 2014. Trio op.114 and sonatas op.120 with Victor Julien-Laferrière, cello and Adam Laloum, piano. Awards : Diapason, Télérama.
  • Brahms, Hindemith, Mirare 282, November 2015 : Quintets by Brahms and Hindemith with Prazák Quartet. Awards : Diapason, Télérama, France Musique.
  • Weber, Mirare 372, September 2017 : Concerto opus 73, Variations opus 33, Grand Duo opus 48 with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, piano. Awards : Diapason.
  • Messiaen, Ades, Mirare 334, November 2018 : Quatuor pour la fin du temps by Messiaen and Court studies by Ades with Trio Messiaen. Awards : Diapason, Classica, France Musique, Le Monde, ResMusica.
  • On tour, Mirare 498, October 2019 : works for clarinet and piano by Lutoslawski, Poulenc, Weiner, Bartok, Sévère, Bernstein with Paul Montag, pianist. Awards : Diapason, France Info.
  • Mozart/Clarinet works, Mirare 626, September 2022 : Concerto K.622 and Quintet K.581 by W.A. Mozart with Orchestre de chambre de Paris and with Modigliani Quartet. Awards : Radio Classique, France Musique, Diapason, Resmusica.