The french bassoonist Axel Benoit, one of the most sought after artist of his generation, is currently 1. Principal Bassoon at the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz in Germany.
Before occupying his current position, Axel Benoit was, at 21 years old, Principal Bassoon of the Bern Symphony Orchestra (2013-2016), and later on Principal Bassoon of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2016-2020) in Switzerland.
He has been regularly invited as Principal Bassoon in other prestigious orchestras such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Festival Strings Lucerne, the Zurich Opera House, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, the European Philharmonic of Switzerland.
He regularly performs in the greatest halls in the world, such as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Suntory Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris, the KKL in Lucerne under the direction of famous conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Andris Nelsons, Bernhard Haitink, Franz Welser-Möst or Fabio Luisi.
Born in 1992, he started taking lessons of piano at the age of 6 and bassoon at the age of 9, professors Jean-Luc André and Hervé Issartel. Graduated at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional du Grand Avignon (CRR) with distinction in both instruments, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon (CNSM) in the class of professor Carlo Colombo in 2010. In 2012, he joined the Zurich Opera as academist, and obtained in the meantime a Soloist Master degree at the University of Arts in Zurich (ZhdK) in the class of Giorgio Mandolesi.
At 19 years old, in 2011, Axel Benoit won the 1st prize at the International Double Reed Society competition in Tempe (USA) and has since participated in many festivals such as Verbier and Zermatt, in the most famous international orchestras, such as the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Gustav Mahler Academy.
Axel Benoit is invited as soloist and professor at the most renowned International Bassoon Festival in China, and gives Masterclasses at prestigious high schools of music such as the international Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Conservatori Liceu Barcelona, Abbado Academy in Milan to name a few.
He is an active chamber music player, also member of the “Ensemble Confoederatio” wind quintet in Switzerland as well as “The Universal Bassoon
Ensemble”.
Axel Benoit taught at the Escuola Superior de Musica e Artes do Espectaculo (ESMAE) in Porto (Portugal) from 2018-2020 and gives yearly summer Masterclasses at the international Tibor Varga Academy in Sion (Switzerland) since 2021.
From 2022, he also became Mentor for the Mendelssohn Orchestra Academy in Leipzig.
He is regularly active as soloist and professor internationally : Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, France.