Hervé Niquet
More than 443 times played this month
Hervé Niquet – harpsichordist, organist, pianist, singer, composer, choirmaster, and conductor – is one of the most inventive musical personalities of recent years and a leading specialist in French repertoire from the Baroque era to Debussy.
He founded Le Concert Spirituel in 1987 to revive the great French motet. Over 35 years, the ensemble has distinguished itself in Baroque performance, rediscovering both well-known and rare European masterpieces, and was awarded the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Choral Singing 2020.
Believing in a continuous French musical tradition across centuries, Niquet is invited as guest conductor by major orchestras worldwide, including OSM Montréal, Kanazawa Orchestra, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal Liège, Vlaams Radio Orkest, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Casa da Música Porto, and French ensembles such as Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Orchestre national de Lyon, and Orchestre national d’Île-de-France.
In the 2023/24 season, highlights include Reynaldo Hahn’s O mon bel inconnu with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, festive Christmas and New Year concerts with the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, a staged production of Gounod’s Le Tribut de Zamora at Saint-Étienne Opera, and concerts dedicated to Saint-Saëns and Godard at Rouen Opera.
Niquet is also dedicated to teaching, giving masterclasses at institutions including the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique of Paris and Lyon, Schola Cantorum Basel, McGill University, Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris, Académie du festival d’Ambronay, and through the professional training program « La Pépinière du Concert Spirituel », mentoring young musicians each season.
He has served as artistic director of the Saintes Festival (2023–24) and previously of the Saint-Riquier Festival (2014–17). His achievements have been recognized with honors including Commander and Knight of Arts and Letters and the Ehrenpreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for the excellence and diversity of his recordings.
