François Leleux, Principal Oboe
François Leleux was appointed Principal Oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in 2003. He said about COE: “The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is unique and original, it pioneered the concept of a European Orchestra and represents a precursor in the fields of harmony and homogeneity.” COE is the achievement of a musical utopia, whose ultimate objective is to make music at the highest possible world-class level.”
François is renowned for his irrepressible energy and exuberance. He is currently Artistic Partner of Camerata Salzburg. Leleux was previously Artist-in-Association with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and has featured as Artist-in-Residence with orchestras such as hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Berner Symphonieorchester, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife.
As an oboist Leleux has performed as soloist with orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Swedish Radio and the NHK symphony orchestras. A dedicated chamber musician, he regularly performs worldwide with sextet Les Vents Français and with recital partners Lisa Batiashvili, Eric Le Sage and Emmanuel Strosser.
Committed to expanding the oboe’s repertoire, Leleux has commissioned many new works from composers such as Nicolas Bacri, Michael Jarrell, Giya Kancheli, Thierry Pécou, Gilles Silvestrini and Eric Tanguy. In recent seasons, he has premiered an oboe concerto by Laurent Petitgirard, ‘Souen Wou K’ong’ written especially for him (2021/22); the cor anglais version of Debussy’s Rapsodie for saxophone, arranged especially for him by Silvestrini (2017/18); Jarrell’s oboe concerto Aquateinte (2016/17); and Thierry Escaich’s Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe, whose premiere performances Leleux and his wife Lisa Batiashvili gave with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and New York Philharmonic.
Leleux’s latest recording, ‘Bienvenue en France’, released on Warner Classics is a collaboration with pianist Emmanuel Strosser featuring 20th century French composers including Saint-Saëns, Dutilleux and Debussy and the contemporary Thierry Pécou. As a conductor, Leleux and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra released an album of works by Bizet and Gounod for Linn Records in 2019. His album of works by Hummel and Haydn, recorded with Münchener Kammerorchester, received award recognition in 2016. Other recordings include works by J.S. Bach with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Mozart with Camerata Salzburg, and Strauss’ Oboe Concerto with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding.
François Leleux is a Professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.