CELLO 2017 : First Prize
First Prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2017, as part of the first edition dedicated to cello, Victor Julien-Laferrière also won the 1st Prize and two special prizes at the 2012 Prague Spring International Competition. In 2018, he was awarded the Victoire de la Musique in France as ‘Instrumental Soloist of the Year’.
The 2022/23 season sees him perform with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kirill Karabits for the world premiere of Feodor Akimenko’s
Cello Concerto, as well as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, and with the Orchestre National d’Auvergne play-conducting. Victor is Associate Artist of the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra, with which he collaborates three times over the course of the season. He is also invited at the Palazzetto Bru-Zane in Venice with Radio France Chorus, at the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence in duo with David Fray, in Saint Martin-in-the-Fields church in London in duo with Marie-Ange Nguci.
Victor Julien-Laferrière also develops an important activity as a conductor. He performs at the Folle Journée in Nantes with his ensemble Consuelo, which he founded and conducts and which collaborates intensively with many leading French festivals. As a guest conductor he has led the Orchester National d'Ile-de-France and the Orchester de l'Opéra de Rouen on tour.
As a soloist, he is invited by renowned orchestras worldwide, including Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgium National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Lausanne and Paris chamber orchestras, Les Siècles, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia. He performs with prestigious conductors such as Kristiina Poska, Emmanuel Krivine, Tugan Sokhiev, Elim Chan, Maxim Emelyanychev, François-Xavier Roth, Jun Märkl, Philippe Herreweghe, Nathalie Stutzmann, Stéphane Denève, Joshua Weilerstein, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Gergely Madaras and Ben Glassberg.
His recital and chamber music projects lead him to prestigious venues and festivals such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lucerne KKL, Brussels BOZAR, Zurich Tonhalle, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Essen Philharmonie, Phillips Collection in Washington, Prague Spring International Music Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Gstaad Sommets Musicaux, Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, Brussels Cello Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, Folles Journées in Nantes and Tokyo.
He also receives many recording awards, including the Diapason d’or of the year 2017 for his sonata album with the pianist Adam Laloum. In 2019, Victor Julien-Laferriere released an album devoted to Schubert with the Trio Les Esprits (Sony Music) and one with works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Denisov with pianist Jonas Vitaud for the label Alpha Classics. In 2021, came out a recording of concertos by Dvorak and Martinu for the same label, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and Gergely Madaras. In May 2023, he released a disc on Alpha with the Orchestre National de France, dedicated to two contemporary French works for cello and orchestra:
Outscape by Pascal Dusapin, recorded in world premiere, and the famous concerto
Tout un monde lointain by Henri Dutilleux. With his orchestra Consuelo he recorded the
Sérénades by Brahms in early 2023 (label Mirare).
Since 2020, Victor Julien-Laferrière is playing on an instrument by Domenico Montagnana, property of Xavier and Joséphine Moreno.
Teachers
2014-2016 Clemens Hagen
2009-2014 Heinrich Schiff
Degrees
2014-2016 Diplôme d'Artiste Interprète - Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris
2014-2016 Perfectionnement - Mozarteum Universität für Musik
Concerts
2016 Villeparisis - Orchestre National d'Île de France, Michael Hofstatter (dir.)
2016 Dijon, Opéra - Orchestre Dijon-Bourgogne, Gergely Madaras (dir.)
2016 Concerts du dimanche matin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris) - Adam Laloum (piano)
2013 Spring Prague Festival, Rudolfinum - Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Peter Oudjian (dir.)
Competitions
2012 Spring Prague International Competition - 1er prix