Axel Benoit
France
Bassoon
About
French bassoonist Axel Benoit is among the most sought-after artists of his generation. Since 2020 he has been Principal Bassoon of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and Professor of Bassoon at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz in Germany.
Before taking up this position, he was appointed Principal Bassoon of the Bern Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21 (2013–2016), becoming one of the youngest musicians to hold a principal bassoon position. He subsequently served as Principal Bassoon of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne from 2016 to 2020.
He is regularly invited as Guest Principal Bassoon by prestigious ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Festival Strings Lucerne, among others.
He performs regularly in the world’s leading concert halls, including the Berliner Philharmonie, Suntory Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Philharmonie de Paris and the KKL Lucerne, under the direction of renowned conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Andris Nelsons, Bernhard Haitink, Franz Welser-Möst and Tugan Sokhiev.
Born in 1992, he began studying piano at the age of six and bassoon at the age of nine with Jean-Luc André and Hervé Issartel. After graduating with highest honours from the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional du Grand Avignon in both instruments, he was admitted in 2010 to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, where he studied with Carlo Colombo.
In 2012 he joined the Zurich Opera House as an academy member while completing a Soloist Master’s degree at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in the class of Giorgio Mandolesi.
At the age of 19 he won First Prize at the International Double Reed Society Competition in Tempe (USA) in 2011. Since then he has appeared at international festivals such as Verbier and Zermatt and performed with prestigious ensembles including the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Gustav Mahler Academy.
He is regularly invited as a soloist and professor at the major international bassoon festival in China and gives masterclasses at renowned institutions such as the Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo College of Music, Showa University of Music, Aichi University of the Arts, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU) and the Conservatori Liceu Barcelona.
From 2018 to 2020 he taught at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo (ESMAE) in Porto (Portugal). Since 2021 he has given annual summer masterclasses at the International Tibor Varga Academy in Sion (Switzerland).
Since 2022 he has also served as mentor for the Mendelssohn Orchestra Academy in Leipzig.
He maintains an international career as a soloist, orchestral musician and pedagogue, performing and teaching in Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Germany and France.
Axel Benoit is a Püchner artist and performs on a “Superior” model instrument.
Tibor Varga Academy Masterclass
20.07.2026 -> 25.07.2026 : Summer Academy Professors
