Philippe Bernold began his musical studies in Colmar, France, studying the flute and later conducting with René Matter, student of Charles Münch. He then attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he earned the Premier Prix in flute and the next year, at the age of 23, was appointed first flute of the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon.

In 1987 he won first prize in the Concours International Jean-Pierre Rampal and embarked upon a solo career. His first recording won the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros in 1989. Since then Philippe Bernold has made more than fifteen recordings for Harmonia Mundi, EMI, and Lyrinx (duo recording with Catherine Collard). He has also made many recordings with pianist Alexandre Tharaud, which have received the best critics. (“Choc” from Le Monde de la musique and “Diapason d’or” from Diapason).

Philippe Bernold returned to conducting in 1994, founding "Les Virtuoses de l’Opéra de Lyon" with the encouragement of conductor John Elliot Gardner and Jean-Pierre Brossmann. The ensemble quickly gained a reputation for its high level of artistry. Bernold was then appointed assistant conductor of Orchestre de Bretagne, where he conducted twenty concerts during the 1999-2000 season. Since then, he has been invited to conduct concerts with such ensembles as Sinfonia Varsovia in Lisbon, Bilbao, Valence, Nantes, and Varsovie, Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon at the Festival International de Colmar (where he was conductor and soloist), Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestre d'Auvergne, Académie de Ste Cécile (ancien music), Orchestre de Cannes, Orchestre Philharmonique de Séoul, Orchestre symphonique de San Remo, Orchestre d’Avignon, and Cappella Istropolitana, with whom he was the first conductor to be invited since 2003.

He has collaborated with such artists as M. Portal, V. Gens, L. Korcia, R. Capuçon, F. Say, M. Nordmann, S. Nakariakov, C. Tiberghien. In 2005, he conducted Cosi Fan Tutte with the Sinfonia Varsovia. In 2006, he conducted in Germany, Italy, and Poland, and in 2007, he was invited back to conduct in Korea, Germany, and Italy. In 2008 and 2009 he begins a collaboration with the orchestra of the Paris National Conservatory of music, and do a recording with the “Ensemble Orchestral de Paris”. In 2010 he will conduct the same orchestra in his season at the Théatre de Champs Elysées.

For the TV, Philippe Bernold conduct in 2008 a complete Mozart program with the Sinfonia Varsovia and Alexei Ogrintchouk as a soloist (Mezzo).

Philippe Bernold is Professor of Chamber Music at Conservatoire National Supérieur de musique de Paris, Professor of Flute at Conservatoire National Supérieur de musique de Lyon, and also teaches at the Académie de musique française de Kyoto (Japan).