François Desforges
Professeur of Percussion
- Portrait
François Desforges began studying percussion with Daniel Ardaillon in Montluçon and continued his education with Didier Benetti and Frédéric Macarez in Paris. Concurrently, he studied Latin percussion with Miguel Fiannaca.
In 1992, François Desforges was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Jacques Delecluse and Jean Geoffroy. He graduated in 1995 with a unanimous First Prize. That same year, he joined the Orchestre National de France and obtained the Certificate of Aptitude for teaching percussion.
In 1998, he also received a First Prize in chamber music at the CNSM de Paris in the class of Jacques Ivaldi and Michel Cals.
Within the Orchestre National de France, he holds the position of Solo Timpanist. With this renowned ensemble, he has participated in numerous projects and international tours under the baton of prestigious conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Osawa, Kurt Masur, Daniele Gatti, Bernard Haitink, and Cristian Macelaru, the current music director.
Beyond his orchestral activities, François Desforges is passionate about pedagogy. After many years of teaching at the conservatory of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and at the CRD of Créteil, he joined the prestigious Haute école de musique de Genève in 2016 to teach timpani. This esteemed institution allows him to share his passion with students from around the world. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses on orchestral timpani.
As a chamber musician, François Desforges is a member of the ensemble Ad ONF, comprised of percussionists from the Orchestre National de France. This variable-geometry ensemble was created in 2004 around the project "Ballet Mécanique" by Georges Antheil, initiated by René Bosc, then director of musical creation at Radio-France. Since its creation, Ad ONF has been a regular guest at numerous festivals such as the Présences Festival at Radio-France, La Roque d’Anthéron, Les Folles Journées de Nantes, and the Bel Air Festival in Chambéry. Many artists have collaborated with Ad ONF, including Marielle and Katia Labèque, Bertrand Chamayou, Jean Frédéric Neuburger, Magali Mosnier, Markus Lindberg, Thierry Escaich, and Thomas Adès.
François Desforges also performs with various other partners such as the "inclassifiable" group Quai n°5, the Accentus Chamber Choir directed by Laurence Equilbey, the Sequenza 9.3 vocal ensemble directed by Catherine Simonpietri, the "family" Artie’s, and more recently with the Consuelo Orchestra under the direction of Victor-Julien Laferrière.
