Pâris, Alain
Pâris, Alain
Pâris, Alain, French conductor and writer on music; b. Paris, Nov. 22, 1947. He had a conducting course with Dervaux at the École Normal de Musique in Paris (Licence de concert, 1967), where he also was a student of Dandelot (1965–68); then studied conducting with Fourestier. In 1968 he won 1st prize in the Besançon conducting competition; subsequently appeared as a guest conductor with various French orchs. In 1976–77 he was asst. conductor of the Orchestre de Capitole de Toulouse. In 1980 he organized the Ensemble à Vent in Paris, which he led in programs of rarely heard works as well as premiere performances of many contemporary scores. From 1983 to 1987 he was permanent conductor of the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg. From 1986 to 1989 he was a prof. of conducting at the Strasbourg Cons. As a guest conductor, he appeared throughout Europe. He publ. the Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l’interprétation musicale au XXe siècle (Paris, 1982; 4th ed., rev., 1995) and Les Livrets d’opéra (Paris, 1991); also made French translations of the New Oxford Companion to Music (Paris, 1988) and Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (Paris, 1995).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire