Casadesus, Jean-Claude
Casadesus, Jean-Claude
French conductor, nephew of Robert (Marcel) Casadesus and Gaby Casadesus; b. Paris, Dec. 7, 1935. He studied at the Paris Cons.; in 1959 he received the premier prix as a percussion player there; he was then engaged as timpanist of the Concerts Colonne (until 1968) and of the Domaine Musical in Paris; also studied conducting with Dervaux at the École Normale de Musique in Paris (premier prix, 1965) and with Boulez in Basel. In 1969 he became resident conductor of the Opéra and of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. In 1971 he became asst. conductor to Dervaux with the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire in Angers. In 1976 he founded the Lille Phil; also appeared as a guest conductor with various orchs. and opera houses in Europe. He was made an officer of the National Order of Merit for his services to French culture.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire