Valentine Michaud’s Highlights

By | | Saxophone

Artist Profiles, Sax, Saxophone, Valentine Michaud

  • 1993: Born in Paris, France.
  • 2000: Began her musical studies in her hometown, Pornic, France, with Slava Kazykin — a clarinet and saxophone player from Ukraine.
  • 2005: Began studying at the Conservatory of Nantes, France, with Jean-Marie Bellec (jazz) and since 2007 with Joel Hérissé (classical), graduating in 2010.
  • 2006: First prize at Nantes’s 3rd International Saxophone Competition, elementary grade category.
  • 2008: First prize at the Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie Jazz Competition, with her jazz quintet, Penta Tonik.
  • 2009: Two First prizes — Rouans Jazz Festival Competition and Vannes Jazz Festival Competition, amateur category, with Penta Tonik.
  • 2010: Moved to Switzerland to study with Pierre-Stéphane Meugé at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne (Bachelor of Arts in Music, 2013; Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy, 2015).
  • 2014: Tour with Lausanne Opera’s Lyrical Road.
  • 2015: Started her Master of Arts in Specialized Music Performance with a Specialization in Soloist at the Zurich University of the Arts with Lars Mlekusch (graduating in 2017). Won the Paléo Festival of the HES-SO (Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale — University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland in Geneva). Founded the SaxUp Saxophone Camp.
  • 2016: Debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition at Tonhalle Zurich and Kulturcasino Bern. Second prize at the Zurich University of the Arts Contemporary Chamber Music Competition, with cellist Markus Hallikainen. Third prize at the Rising Stars Grand Prix International Music Competition Berlin, Germany, with the AKMI Duo. First prize at the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition, with the AKMI Duo. First prize and Special Selmer Paris Award at Jurjans Andrejs International Woodwind Competition in Riga, Latvia. Migros’ Pour-Cent Culturel Award. Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes Award. Founding member of SIBJA — a collective of artists in Switzerland.
  • 2017: Joined the faculty of the Popular Conservatory of Music, Dance and Theater of Geneva.
  • 2018: Golden Medal at the Berliner Music Competition. Second prize at the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy, with the AKMI Duo.
  • 2019: Swiss Ambassador’s Award, with the AKMI Duo. United Kingdom debut at Wigmore Hall London.
  • 2020: Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, being invited to make her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Lucerne Festival in the 2022-23 season.
  • 2021: Debut with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko.

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