Raphaël Jouan

Raphaël Jouan is a young cellist motivated by his love of sharing music. His style is characterised by his curiosity and openess: he is interested in varying repertoires and musical formations. His personal repertoire includes several concertos (Vivaldi on baroque instrument, Haydn, Schumann, Saint-Saens, Beethoven Triple Concerto…) with the orchestra, as well as the Bach cello suites which he first performed entirely at the ‘Festival de la Haute Clarée’ in 2014. 

He also enjoys orchestral playing: he has performed several concerts at the Salle Pleyel as part of the Orchestre de Paris’s academy in 2013/2014 and regularly plays among the Orchestre National de Lorraine and the Orchestre de Paris. 

Over the years, Raphaël became more interested about improvisation music. He has worked with some of the best jazz cellists (Vincent Ségal, Mike Block, Stephan Braun) and is a member of the Hussam Aliwat Quartet, formed by two cellos one oud and drums. Mix between rock, groove and improvisation, they play in festivals and jazz clubs (for example the Sunset Sunside in Paris), and are recording their first album “Mirrors” in april.

Passionate about chamber music, he regularly gives concerts, mainly with his piano trio, in prestigious concert halls (Salle Pleyel, Salle Cortot, Philharmonie de Paris) and during various festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, Le Festival des Arcs, Les Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, Via Aeterna, the Kammermusik Festival of Hohenstaufen, Les  Folles Journées in Varsovie and in Tokyo, the Molaeb Festival in Lebanon… 

In 2018 he is selected to participate at the YMCG festival in Guangzhou, under the artistic direction of Yo-Yo Ma. This festival gather all his passions : orchestra (with Michael Stern), chamber music (with teachers Pamela Frank, Anna Polonsky, John Yeh…) and improvisation (with Edgar Meyer, Wu Man, Hanneke Cassel…).

Raphaël is a founding member of the Helios Trio with Camille Fonteneau (violin) and Alexis Gournel (piano). After studying with Claire Désert and Ami Flammer at the CNSM, they received their Chamber Music Diploma in June 2015. They perfected themselves 2 years in the class of the Wanderer Trio and Emmanuel Strosser at the CRR of Paris and continue now at the CNSM with Itamar Golan. They also benefit from the teachings of musical personalities such as the Ébène Quartet, Modigliani Quartet, Christian Ivaldi, Yovan Markovitch, Guillaume Sutre, Lynn Harrell, Johannes Meissl, Hatto Beyerle, Alfred Brendel… during numerous festivals and masterclasses such as the ECMA. They’ve won several prizes during different competitions: a second Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition of Illzach as well as the Audience Prize, the Honor Prize at the International Léopold Bellan Competition, the 1st “Grand Prix d’Europe”,and also won a Grant from the FNAPEC after their performance during the “Musiques d’Ensemble de Paris” Competition.

Raphaël took up his instrument at the age of 5 and completed his grades at the Metz conservatoire with Jean Adolphe, before continuing at Boulogne Billancourt where he studied under Xavier Gagnepain. He entered at the age of 18 in the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris where he got his master degree in May 2017 in the class of Michel Strauss and Guillaume Paoletti. He is currently in a chamber music master degree at the CNSM with his piano trio. He also studied piano with the amazing chinese pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, the baroque cello with Bruno Cocset, and has been advised during master classes and academies by several greats cellist such as Gary Hoffman, Jérôme Pernoo, Gustav Rivinius, Jens Peter Maintz, Lynn Harell and Yo-Yo Ma.

This year, Raphaël has been selected for the prestigious Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle of Gautier Capuçon at the Louis Vuitton Fondation.