Lionel Bringuier
Conductor
This season Lionel Bringuier begins his tenure as music director of Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. He has ambitious plans for the orchestra, including expanding its performance repertoire, strengthening its relationship with audiences, and enhancing its national and international reputation. His new appointment in Liège allows him to invite several of his closest musical partners—these include Gautier Capuçon, Hélène Grimaud and Jean-Yves Thibaudet—and to visit international festivals such as the Festival International d’Aix-en-Provence and Bad Kissingen. Alongside this new role he is honorary conductor of Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice in his hometown and in addition to his symphonic work last season, he conducted a production of Carmen at Nice Opera.
For the 2025-26 season, Bringuier's guest engagements include performances with WDR Köln Symphony Orchestra, Sydney and Queensland symphony orchestras, NOSPR Katowice and the Hallé. Additionally, he will return to conduct L'Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine with Victor Julien-Laferrière and Enescu Philharmonic with Gautier Capuçon. Highlights of previous seasons include returns to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for a performance at the Beethovenfest Bonn, and to the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, performances with the Tokyo Philharmonic as well as projects with San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and China National Symphony Orchestra.
Very well-known across Europe and having previously served as music director of Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Bringuier has also held posts at Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in Valladolid, Orchestre de Bretagne and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Bringuier's extensive expertise and commitment to the French repertoire have enabled him to curate sophisticated programs that feature not only underperformed works by composers such as Schmitt and Roussel, but also highlight contemporary French composers including Guillaume Connesson, Henri Dutilleux and Éric Tanguy.
Bringuier has cultivated an extensive discography, collaborating with Yuja Wang on a recording of Ravel's Piano Concerto for Deutsche Grammophon as part of a comprehensive cycle of the composer's works. Additional recordings feature Chopin with Nelson Freire (DG) and multiple projects in partnership with the Capuçon brothers, such as Saint-Saëns with Renaud Capuçon and Destination Paris with Gautier Capuçon (Erato), released in conjunction with the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Bringuier maintains close professional relationships with many of the world's leading instrumentalists, including Lisa Batiashvili, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes and Janine Jansen.
Bringuier comes from a family of musicians and studied cello and conducting at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning the prestigious International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors only a year after graduating. He cares passionately about education, outreach, and developing the careers of emerging conductors and soloists. In September 2020 he served on the jury of La Maestra, the first international conducting competition for women, and continues to work with local schools in his hometown of Nice to introduce children to classical music and orchestral experiences.
Bringuier was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by the French government and has been lauded with the Médaille d'or à l'unanimité avec les félicitations du jury à l'Académie Prince Rainier III de Monaco and the Médaille d'or from the City of Nice.
