Damien Top French tenor, conductor and musicologist Country: France

Biography of Damien Top

Damien Top is a renowned French tenor, conductor, and musicologist. He currently holds the position of Artistic Director of the International Albert Roussel Festival. Damien is considered one of the most prominent figures in contemporary French music due to his talents as a singer, conductor, composer, and musicologist. In recognition of his achievements in the field of music and his contribution to national culture, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Charles Oulmont - Fondation de France by the French government in 2002. In turn, Damien serves as the Artistic Director of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation.

Damien studied music at the Conservatoire of Lille and the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance. He was trained by notable figures such as Galina Vishnevskaya, Jean-Christophe Benoit, and Jacques Pottier. Damien's repertoire includes operas, operettas, religious chants, and French songs, known as "mélodie."

In 1993, Damien was invited to perform in the opera "Benvenuto Cellini" by Hector Berlioz at the Opéra de Paris-Bastille, under the direction of Myung-whun Chung. In 2002, he sang and conducted Henri Sauguet's cantata "L'oiseau a vu tout cela" at the French Academy.

Numerous contemporary composers have created compositions specifically for Damien at various stages of their careers. Notable among them are Jacques Chailley, Isabelle Aboulker, Françoise Choveaux, Suzanne Joly, and many others.

Damien regularly performs at prestigious festivals in France, including Flâneries Musicales in Reims, Musicales en Valois, the Festival des Grands Crus in Burgundy, and the Festival de la Mélodie Française in Toulouse. However, his performances extend far beyond France, including countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Macedonia, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States.

One of Damien's mentors was Sergiu Celibidache, and he applied the lessons he learned from him while conducting renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre du Festival Roussel, Joseph Jongen Ensemble, Czech Chamber Soloists, Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra.

Damien's programs primarily focus on contemporary musical works. Thanks to him, several unjustly forgotten works by Albert Roussel, Vincent d'Indy, Claude Delvincourt, Hans Eklund, George Enescu, and many others have experienced a renaissance. In 2000, Damien Top's biography of Albert Roussel was published, which is now considered the standard for works of this kind.