Cc Andrej Grilc
« Raphaël Jouan with his outstanding technical abilities and enveloping warm tone has expressed a deep understanding for the music and the composer in his performance. Aside from his musical abilities, he possesses the qualities that we associate with great musicians. » (North International Music Competition, 2018)
Raphaël Jouan is a young cellist motivated by his love of sharing music. His style is characterised by his curiosity and openness : he is interested in varying repertoires, styles, and music groups. In 2018 he is nominated “Révélation Classique de l’Adami”.
He regularly gives concerts in prestigious concert halls (Philharmonie de Paris, Xinghai Concert Hall, Arsenal of Metz, Lyon Opera House, Wigmore Hall…), on the radio (France Musique), and during various festivals in France and abroad (les Folles Journées de Nantes, Varsovie, Tokyo, Le Festival des Arcs, la Roque d’Anthéron, Via Aeterna, les Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, le Festival Pablo Casals, the YMCG Festival…). He often share the stage with partners like pianist Flore Merlin, accordionist Bruno Maurice, and cellist Thibaut Reznicek.
Passionate about chamber music, Raphaël is a founding member of the Helios Trio with Eva Zavaro (violin) and Alexis Gournel (piano). They won several prizes in various International Competitions (Illzach, Bellan, Lyon Chamber Music Competition, Joseph Joachim, Trondheim…). Their first album “D’un matin de printemps” is released in April 2021 for the label Mirare, with trios of St Saëns, Ravel and Lili Boulanger. Their second CD is called “Bohemia”, it presents czech composers Smetana, Novàk & Fibich and won a CHOC de Classica award. They are represented by the Claire Laballery Agency and are “Ensemble en résidence” at the Singer Polignac Foundation.
Over the years, Raphaël has become more interested about improvisation and world music. He has worked with some of the best jazz cellists and world music artists (Vincent Ségal, Mike Block, Stephan Braun and several members of the “Silk Road Ensemble”) in Germany, China and at the Global Musician Workshop in the US. He has played in several jazz clubs and festivals in France (Sunset-Sunside, Café de la Danse, Festival Jazz Contreband…)
Raphaël first completed his grades at the Metz conservatoire with Jean Adolphe, before continuing at Boulogne Billancourt where he studied under Xavier Gagnepain. He then entered in the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNSM) where he got his master degree in 2017 in the class of Michel Strauss and Guillaume Paoletti. He also studied piano with Zhu Xiao-Mei, the baroque cello with Bruno Cocset, and has been advised during master classes and academies by Gary Hoffman, Jérôme Pernoo, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Gustav Rivinius, Jens Peter Maintz, Lynn Harell, Yo-Yo Ma…
In 2017, Raphaël has been selected for the prestigious Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle of Gautier Capuçon at the Louis Vuitton Fondation. He then finished his studies in the Artist Diploma Degree at the Paris Conservatoire and in the Soloist Master Program of the UdK in Berlin with Danjulo Ishizaka.
Raphaël is supported by the Adami and plays a cello of Frank Ravatin made for him in 2020.
His first CD, “Sérénade” (Initiale), with the pianist Flore Merlin, was released in 2020 and was critically acclaimed (Diapason, Classica, Pizzicato Award, ICMA nomination...)