HUGO MARCHAND

Étoile Dancer
Paris Opera Ballet

Hugo Marchand began dancing at the age of 9 at the Nantes Conservatory. A few years later, he received the Conservatory’s gold medal and joined the Paris Opera Ballet School in 2007. He joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011.

He quickly rose through the ranks of the company and won the bronze medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2014. He then received the Cercle Carpeaux Prize and the AROP Dance Prize in 2015, awards recognizing the young talents of the Paris Opera. Hugo Marchand was named Étoile Dancer on March 3, 2017, during a tour in Japan where he performed La Sylphide. That same year, he received the Benois de la Danse award in the category of Best Dancer of the Year.

In 2022, he created his non-profit association Hugo Marchand pour la Danse, driven by a desire to transmit knowledge and a strong social commitment. Through its projects, the association works to make dance accessible to a wider audience and to promote this art form in regions where it is sometimes less present. In 2023, he received a second Benois de la Danse award for his performance in Mayerling.
He performs the great ballets of the Paris Opera repertoire while also interpreting numerous contemporary works choreographed by William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mats Ek, Angelin Preljocaj, Jiří Kylián…

He has been honored with the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.

@humarchand
@hugomarchandpourladanse

OPHÉLIE GAILLARD

Cellist

Ophélie Gaillard is a French cellist born in 1974 in Paris. From the age of 7, she showed a keen interest in the cello. She studied in Paris, earning three prizes at the CNSM in chamber music, cello, and baroque cello. She also holds a cello diploma and a degree in musicology from the Sorbonne. After winning several international prizes, including the 3rd prize at the J.S. Bach International Cello Competition in Leipzig in 1998, she was voted “Instrumental Solo Revelation” by the public at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2003. Since then, she has performed in the most prestigious venues (Bruges, Amsterdam, Bozar). After co-founding the Amarillis ensemble (a chamber music group with a flexible configuration), she created Pulcinella in 2005, a collective of virtuosos dedicated to historically informed performance. She has recorded two albums, *Boccherini, Madrid* (2007) and *Vivaldi, Complete Cello Sonatas* (2006), both of which received top discographic distinctions.

She also collaborates with contemporary composers and dancers, notably hip-hop dancer Ibrahim Sissoko, and contributed to the creation of a dance performance in 2012. Her recordings of the complete Bach suites, Britten suites, and her sonata with pianist Vanessa Wagner have received international critical acclaim, as has her album dedicated to the works for cello and piano by Gabriel Fauré, recorded with Bruno Fontaine.

@ophelie.gaillard