Grégoire BLIN English

Born in 1974 in Le Mans, France, Grégoire Blin came from a very artistic family. His grand father was a professional organist, and both his parents are amateurs in music and fine arts. He began his study of double bass with José Marco at the age of 9. In his teen years Mr. Blin's interest was in fact more inclined toward science and engineering.Impressed by his performance in a non-official audition, the renowned French double bass pedagogue and international soloist, Jean-Marc Rollez, recommended that Mr. Blin should seek for full development of his musical talent. It was then when Mr. Blin decided to devote himself to a music career. In June 1993, he won two prices: the Médaille d'or from Ecole Nationale de Musique du Mans, and the Prix d'Honneur de la Ville du Mans, the highest distinction of Le Mans city.

In 1993 Mr. Blin entered the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris (presently the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris-CNR) where he studied with Vincent Pasquier, the super-soliste of Orchestre de Paris. One year later he continued his education at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under the instruction of Jean-Marc Rollez, whose inspiring teaching contributed greatly to Blin's instrumental techniques.Unlike most young fellows of his age, Grégoire Blin started his orchestra career while he was only a second-year student at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He became the assistant principal bass of Orchestre Symphonique Français (conductor: Laurent Petitgirard) in 1996, and the assistant principal bass of Orchestre de Bretagne (conductor: Stefan Sanderling, son of the famous German conductor Kurt Sanderling) in 1997.

Although burdened by his double-status both as a student and a professional musician, he obtained the Premier Prix in double bass when graduating from C.N.S.M. in June 1997. In the same year, Grégoire Blin was selected among numerous candidates to join the bass section of Orchestre National de France. In September 2003, Grégoire Blin assumed the position of "second soliste" at Orchestre National de France. In the same year, Mr. Blin was honored by Thierry Barbé, the super-soliste of Opéra de Paris, to take over him as the double bass professor of Conservatoire du XIIe arrondissement Paul Dukas, a position Mr. Blin holds until today. In January 2006, he performed as soloist the Koussevitsky concerto with Taipei Symphony Orchestra  (Taiwan) under Andréas Ligeti. He was also invited by Taipei University of Arts to give double bass masterclass.