Philippe Cuper won the international competitions of Munich, Prague, Viotti, Slovak Prize, medal of Geneva, Orvieto, Mravinsky medal of Saint-Petersburg after his studies of Musicology at the Parisian Sorbonne University and at the Conservatory (CNSM) of Paris where he was rewarded by a first prize for clarinet (1st named unanimously). He was principal clarinetist of the World Orchestra of the Jeunesses Musicales and became principal clarinetist of the Lamoureux orchestra in Paris at the age of 20.

As a certified professor at the Versailles National Conservatory, he taught at the Superior National Conservatory of Music in Zaragoza: “Conservatorio Superior de Aragon” (Spain) and gives “Master classes” in the Universities of Chicago, Cleveland, Mexico City, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canberra, Jerusalem, Moscow…

Philippe Cuper has been the first solo clarinetist (Super soloist) of the orchestra of the National Opera of Paris (since 1984). He is the guest of many international orchestras, such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin, the Scala of Milan or the orchestra of the Lucerne Festival.

He played under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Lorin Maazel, Pierre Boulez, Georges Prêtre, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Philippe Jordan, Gustavo Dudamel, etc… Having around forty CDs to his credit (“Shock of the World of Music, nominated for the “Victoires de la musique”), he also plays with many quartets and has collaborated with composers Messiaen Françaix, Sauguet, Mihalovici, Rosenthal, Berio…