Jean-François Taillard
Jean-François Taillard began his musical studies with Robert
Faller at the Conservatoire de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fond
(Switzerland), his hometown. He continued his studies at the
Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Geneva under the tutelage
of Gregory Cass, where he was awarded the First Prize in French Horn
performance in 1985. In 1984, Jean-François Taillard was named
Second Horn of the Radiosinfonieorchester Basel, before finishing his
studies. Two years later he was appointed Principal Horn in the same
orchestra. He is currently Principal Horn of the Sinfonieorchester
Basel. Mr. Taillard has received the Swiss Youth Musical Award, the
Bela Siki Prize, and is a laureate of the Skene Aberdeen Festival
Competition (Scotland).
Jean-François Taillard performs regularly with the Basel Brass Quintet,
the Grand Ensemble de Cuivres d'Alsace, the Swiss Baroque Soloists and the Kammerorchester Basel.
Jean-François Taillard is a very active musical arranger,
providing arrangements for the Basel Brass Quintet, the Grand Ensemble
de Cuivres d’Alsace, as well as for renowned orchestras such as the
Baltimore Symphony, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the
Sinfonieorchester Basel. Mr. Taillard’s arrangement of Maurice Ravel’s
Le Tombeau de Couperin is featured on a Sinfonieorchester Basel’s
CD dedicated exclusively to the works of Ravel.
An entire CD of Jean-François Taillard’s arrangements for very
large brass ensemble (six trumpets, four horns, four trombones, two
tubas, and percussion) has been released under the direction of Fred Mills
(formerly of the Canadian Brass).
Jean-François Taillard is playing on a Reto Spada Horn (unique
model) . He is also playing on an Egger natural horn (copy of Courtois 1841) and a historic Courtois natural horn (1820).
On the his request, Rainer Egger is currently building a baroque natural horn after Eichentopf.
Gustav Malher, Kindertotenlieder No 1 (arrangement Jean-François Taillard) with the Grand Ensemble de Cuivres d'Alsace
Johannes Brahms, Trio für Klavier, Violine
und Waldhorn with Brigitte Garzia-Capdeville and Axel Schacher (image)
Wolfgang A. Mozart, Marcia alla francese, KV 251 with the Swiss Baroque Soloists (image)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Septet for Winds and Strings on Opus1classical
Georg Friedrich Haendel, from Riccardo Primo with the Kammerorchester Basel (Mark Gebahrt, Second Horn)
