Baritone François Le Roux began his vocal studies with François Loup at the age of 19, and later studied under Vera Rosza and Elisabeth Grümmer at the Opéra Studio, Paris. A member of the Lyon Opera Company from 1980 to 1985, he has since been a guest with all the major European opera houses and festivals, as well as renowned American operatic venues. His wide operatic repertoire uncovers a large scale, from Monteverdi to David Lang. Debussy’s only opera has been his “carte de visite”, first as Pelléas, then as Golaud.
Named “Mr Mélodie” by American critics, François Le Roux gives numerous recitals accompanied by such renowned names as Graham Johnson, Roger Vignoles, Christian Ivaldi, Olivier Godin and Jeff Cohen, and conducts master classes dedicated to the interpretation of French songs and recital repertoire around the world. He is Artistic Director of the Académie Francis Poulenc in Tours, where students are taught every year the interpretation of French Song. He has recorded the songs of Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Gounod, etc. His CD, Songs of Henri Dutilleux, has won an “Orphée d’or” from the Académie du disque lyrique in 2016, and he just released a CD dedicated to André Jolivet, with accompanist Olivier Godin. His first book Le Chant intime, on the interpretation of French Art Song, with co-author Romain Raynaldy, has received the “René Dumesnil Prize 2004” from the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He was awarded the grade of “Chevalier” in the French National Order of les Arts et Lettres in 1996, and chosen as “Musical Personality of the year 1997-1998” by the French Critics Union. He is a vocal teacher at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP) and at the École normale de Musique Alfred Cortot.
