Emmanuel Pahud
Woodwinds and Chamber Music, Distinguished Visiting Professor
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biography
Swiss-French flutist Emmanuel Pahud received his education at the Conservatoire in Paris and at age 22 was invited by Claudio Abbado to join the Berliner Philharmoniker as principal flutist, a position he still holds today.

As a soloist he has appeared around the world with many leading orchestras and collaborated with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Trevor Pinnock, Sir Simon Rattle, and Pierre Boulez. Among his regular chamber music partners are Yefim Bronfman, Hélène Grimaud, Stephen Kovacevich, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and Eric le Sage. Together with le Sage and Paul Meyer, he founded his own summer music festival in Salon de Provence in 1993. He is also a member of the ensemble Les Vents Français.

Committed to expanding the flute repertoire, he has regularly commissioned new works from composers such as Toshio Hosokawa, Philippe Manoury, Matthias Pintscher, Luca Francesconi, and the late Elliott Carter. Many of his more than two dozen recordings have received major awards.

Emmanuel Pahud is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music, and an ambassador for UNICEF.
Together with Daniel Barenboim, he curated the Pierre Boulez Saal’s Festival of New Music, which was streamed live from the hall in July 2020.