Early on, Julien Chauvin was drawn to the Baroque revolution and the revival of historical performance practice on period instruments. He pursued his training in the Netherlands at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under Vera Beths, co-founder of the Archibudelli ensemble alongside Anner Bylsma. In 2003, he became a laureate of the International Early Music Competition in Bruges and subsequently performed as a soloist before founding Le Cercle de l’Harmonie in 2005, which he co-directed with Jérémie Rhorer for ten years.
Fulfilling his ambition to revive a renowned 18th-century ensemble, Julien Chauvin established a new orchestra in 2015: Le Concert de la Loge. This revival seeks to explore forgotten works from the French lyrical and instrumental repertoire while also introducing innovative concert formats that encourage spontaneity and audience imagination.
In parallel, he continues his collaboration with the Quatuor Cambini-Paris, founded in 2007, with which he performs and records the quartets of Jadin, David, Gouvy, Mozart, Gounod, and Haydn.
Julien Chauvin delves into musical direction in the spirit of the late 18th century, characterized by a wide variety of conducting practices. He adapts his approach according to the repertoire, ensemble size, and the requirements of the score, conducting from the violin, with the bow, or using a baton.
He takes on the musical direction of operatic productions such as Era la notte, staged by Juliette Deschamps with Anna Caterina Antonacci; Phèdre by Lemoyne and Cendrillon by Isouard, in productions by the Palazzetto Bru Zane and directed by Marc Paquien; Armida by Haydn, staged by Mariame Clément; Chimène ou le Cid by Sacchini, directed by Sandrine Anglade; and Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, directed by Christophe Rulhes.
He is also a guest conductor for numerous ensembles, including the Kammerorchester Basel, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Orchestre National d’Avignon-Provence, the Orchestre National de Metz, the Orchestre National de Cannes, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Limoges, the Esterházy Hofkapelle, the Orkiestra Historyczna from Katowice, the Folger Consort in Washington, Les Violons du Roy in Montreal, and the Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal.
Julien Chauvin’s discography includes concert works by Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Berlioz, released by the Alpha, Naïve, Eloquentia, and Ambroisie labels. He also frequently records lyrical recitals with leading soloists, operas, and works from the sacred repertoire.
In addition to his concert activities, Julien Chauvin is deeply involved in pedagogy, offering orchestral sessions and masterclasses at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and Lyon, the École Normale de Musique in Paris, the Académie de l’Opéra de Paris, and with the Orchestre Français des Jeunes.
Julien Chauvin is a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
He plays a Giuseppe Guadagnini violin from 1780, loaned to him as part of the “Adopt a Musician” project.
