Olivier Massot (b. 1966)

began his musical education as a young bugle player with the marching bands and concert bands of his native Belgium. 

He currently is the Principal Bassoonist of the Orchestre National de Lyon, the assistant professor of bassoon at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, and also a composer. 

Though he is a self- taught composer, his friendship with the Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans influenced his aesthetic.

 

Massot studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and then went on to study the baroque bassoon at the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag in the Netherlands.

From 1984 he was the bassoonist of the Belgian contemporary music ensembles Musique Nouvelle and Synonymes. He gained his early professional experience in orchestras throughout all of Belgium, most notably the Belgium Radio Orchestra (RTBF) and the Belgium National Opera (La Monnaie) where he performed continuously from 1986 to 1989.

 

In 1989 he became the principal bassoonist of the Vlaamse Opera (Flanders Opera) in Ghent and Antwerp where he played until 1994 upon his appointment as Principal Bassoonist of the Orchestre National de Lyon. Between the years 1989 and 2006, he focused more on the development of his bassoon career. 

As a composer, in 1988 he was the recipient of a grant from the foundation SPES in Brussels.

 

He has written notably for the Belgium National Opera, the National Orchestra of Lyon,  the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, the festival Les Muséiques in Basel (Switzerland), the Beauvais Cello Festival, and for the  choreographer Carla Frison, among others.

Music Publisher; Artchipel

 

Biography Olivier Massot, bassonist  :  Orchestre National de Lyon

 

Translation; Brigid Babbish

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