Raphaël Feuillâtre

Not only has France Musique celebrated him as the new face of classical guitar, but French guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre captivates audiences and critics alike with his charismatic playing. His repertoire includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau, as well as contemporary composers such as Roland Dyens and Sérgio Assad. The 29-year-old's extraordinary technical mastery and artistic vision make works from all eras sound as if they were written yesterday – vibrant, deeply felt, and full of color. Alongside the astonishing precision of his technique, he possesses a sure sense of melodic line, and together these create the impression that the instrument's sound is supported by the player's breath. "My goal is always to make the guitar sing; it must convey emotions," explains Feuillâtre. "So much in music begins with singing. The guitar is a mediator between me and the audience; its expressive potential is virtually inexhaustible. When I play it, I immerse myself so deeply in the sound worlds of the works that I almost forget the instrument itself." Feuillâtre has performed in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in New York, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, as well as at renowned festivals including La Folle Journée in Nantes, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. As a passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with first-class musicians such as trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary and recorder player Lucie Horsch, and in May 2023, he performed a Yellow Lounge in Berlin's Säälchen with violinist and DG colleague María Dueñas. Raphaël teaches at the Pont Supérieur de Bretagne, co-founded the Lille Guitar Academy, and gives masterclasses in Europe and the USA. He expands the repertoire for his instrument with numerous original arrangements, some of which can be heard on his recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. In September 2022, he became the first guitarist in many years to sign an exclusive contract with the label. His DG debut album was released in March 2023. On Visages baroques, he translated works by J. S. Bach, Rameau, Duphly, Royer, and Forqueray, originally written for keyboard instruments, into the colorful sound world of the guitar. "A thrilling debut... [Feuillâtre's] sensitivity lends his interpretation an impressive, yet remarkably understated expressiveness," judged BBC Music Magazine. For his second DG album, Spanish Serenades, Feuillâtre has selected music by Albéniz, Granados, Llobet, Rodrigo, and Tárrega; he also performs five of his own transcriptions of works for solo piano, including Granados' Andaluza, which he performs with María Dueñas. The album, released in June 2025, also features his first orchestral recordings: in Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, he is accompanied by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Gábor Takács-Nagy. This summer, Feuillâtre will be featured in three recitals in France: in Font-Romeu in the Pyrenees, at the Festival Jeudis Musicaux in Corme-Écluse, and at Musiques Baroques in Savennières (August 12, 21, and 29). Highlights of the upcoming season include a recital at the Via Aeterna Festival in Normandy (October 4); Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in Bezons and Échirolles (October 7/8) and at the Arsenal in Metz (December 5); and a recital tour of North America with concerts at the Rotary Center for the Arts, Kelowna (Canada), Tanglewood Music Center, the Menil Collection in Houston, and the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla (October 30, November 1, 3/4, and 16). Raphaël Feuillâtre was born in Djibouti on the northeast coast of Africa in 1996 and grew up in the small western French town of Cholet. His parents, not musicians themselves, recognized their son's passion for music after he received a plastic guitar for his seventh birthday. Two years later, Raphaël began his first guitar lessons at the local conservatory with Hacène Addadi. He continued his studies at the Nantes Conservatory with Michel Grizard, who inspired him to pursue a career as a guitarist, and from 2015 to 2020, he studied at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique in Paris with Roland Dyens and Tristan Manoukian, among others. He also worked for several years with Judicaël Perroy, whose mentorship was a great support to him. In Europe, he was already an emerging star after winning the Concurso Internacional de Guitarra José Tomás Villa de Petrer in Valencia in 2017 and receiving awards at competitions in Spain, France, Portugal, and the Czech Republic. Feuillâtre achieved his international breakthrough in 2018 as the winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. His successes enabled him to make recordings and undertake concert tours throughout Europe, Brazil, Argentina, the USA, and Canada, and his career received a further boost when the French performing rights society ADAMI selected him as one of the year's "classical discoveries" in 2021. In 2023, he ranked second among the most-listened-to classical music artists on Apple Classical. 6/2025