Laurent Campellone

After studying violin, tuba, percussion and singing, Laurent Campellone trained as a conductor at the Conservatoire Frédéric Chopin in Paris, whilst graduating in Philosophy.

Aged 23, he was appointed assistant to the Toulon Opera House Musical Director. In 2000, he completed his training with Christoph Eschenbach.

In 2001, a unanimous vote awarded him the First Prize at the 8th edition of the UE Young Conductors International Competition, at Spoleto (Italy), in association with the National Academy of St Cecilia and the Rome Opera House.

Since then, Laurent Campellone has been invited to conduct nearly 200 symphonic works and over 60 operas.

He was for many years Musical Director of the Saint-Etienne Opera House and Symphonic Orchestra, where he gave a new breath to a policy of re-discovering 19th Century French lyric works, thus conducting many rare pieces by Massenet (Sapho, Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, Ariane, Le Mage…), Gounod (La Reine de Saba, Polyeucte) and Lalo (Le Roi d’Ys). This passion for the lesser known part of the French romantic repertoire does not outshine his readings of more notorious works, as repeatedly noted as saluted by international media.

Laurent Campellone has also been invited by numerous operas and orchestras, amongst which the Bolchoï of Moscow, the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brazil National Orchestra, the New Russia State Orchestra, the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pays de la Loire National Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nancy National Opera Orchestra, the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra… He’s also a regular guest conductor at French festivals, amongst which the Chaise-Dieu Festival and the Berlioz Festival.

His latest recording, Offenbach colorature, released in January 2019, was awarded a “Gold Diapason”, a “Diamond” by Opéra Magazine and a “Choc Classica”, features in Gramophone as part of their March 2019 selection and features in the BBC Music Magazine as part of their May 2019 selection.