François Lazarevitch

French flutist and bagpiper François Lazarevitch, born on August 25, 1975, has pursued a broad spectrum of traditional European repertoires from earlier centuries alongside their intersections with Baroque idioms. Since establishing the ensemble Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien in 2005, he has served as its artistic director and principal leader.

At age 16, Lazarevitch encountered the veteran keyboardist Antoine Geoffroy-Dechaume, a foundational figure in France’s historically informed performance movement. He pursued formal training at the conservatories of Toulouse, Versailles, Brussels, and Paris, where his instructors included Barthold Kuijken, Daniel Brebbia, and Jean-Christophe Maillard. Further immersion with traditional musicians and dancers led him to adopt folk wind instruments such as the Irish flute and bagpipes, forging a personal idiom that merges Baroque technique with vernacular approaches. He has additionally collaborated with singers specializing in oral-tradition repertory and explored Indian music.

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien furnishes the platform for Lazarevitch to develop the collective dimensions of this hybrid style, appearing regularly at events such as the Bach Academy of Arques-la-Bataille in Normandy and the Pontoise Baroque Festival. As a soloist he has appeared with Le Concert d'Astrée, Les Talens Lyriques, Ensemble 1700, Capilla Flamenca, and Micrologus. Contemporary music has also engaged his attention; he has presented works by Vincent Bouchot, Annette Messager, and Gérard Pesson.

For the Alpha label Lazarevitch and Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien have produced more than a dozen recordings, several within a series devoted to folk traditions. Their first release, A l'ombre d'un ormeau: Brunettes et contredanses, appeared in 2008. Subsequent projects have encompassed both core Baroque literature, including Bach’s flute sonatas, and traditional collections such as The High Road to Kilkenny. In 2017 Lazarevitch issued a solo account of Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute on Alpha. He has remained exclusively with the label, issuing further discs that range from selections drawn from Der Fluyten Lust-Hof to C.P.E. Bach’s flute-and-piano sonatas. In 2023, Lazarevitch and the ensemble released Beauté Barbare, a program tracing folk elements within Telemann’s output.