Biography

Jean-François ROUCHON holds masters degrees in singing, chamber music and pedagogy from the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Lyon. He also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Lieder interpretation class, notably with Udo Reinemann, Mitsuko Shirai, Sarah Walker and Wolfgang Holzmair. At the same time, he received advice from the German baritone Thomas Quasthoff. Orienting his singing activities towards the chamber music repertoire from an early age, he won the French Melody Prize at the European competition in Mâcon and, in 2009, the 2nd Prize at the International Lied and Melody Competition in Enschede (Netherlands).

His concerts and recitals have taken him to numerous venues and festivals in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as to China, where he has performed with pianists Honoré Béjin, Billy Eidi, Michel Tranchant and Noël Lee. He also performs as a soloist with orchestra, such as at the Folle journée de Nantes, where he interpreted Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. He has been heard regularly on France-Musique in programmes and concerts devoted to Lieder and melodies.

On the opera stage, he specialises in Mozart roles and in French opera (Ramiro in Maurice Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole, the Husband in Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, etc.). He has sung the title role in Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande on numerous occasions.

Jean-François Rouchon has been involved in teaching and research since the beginning of his career. He holds a certificate of aptitude and teaches opera at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Cergy-Pontoise and at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles. His doctoral work as a performer (Music: research and practice) devoted to the melodies of Charles Bordes (1863-1909) and completed in 2016 received the Mozarteum de France Prize.

Jean-François ROUCHON has recently recorded the complete Volkslieder of Beethoven, published by Warner Classics in 2020.