Principal Clarinetist of the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris (1984–2023), he has played under the baton of the greatest conductors, and has been invited as Guest Principal Clarinet by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestra of La Scala de Milan, Luzern Festival Orchestra, Zürich Opera, the Philharmonia, New York Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Seoul KBS Orchestra, Macao Symphony, Liège Royal Philharmonic, etc.
As a soloist he has appeared with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, and many other orchestras, including: Moscow Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan, Brisbane, Santiago de Chile, Stavanger, Brussels Philharmonic, Los Angeles Festival, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Kiev, Kharkiv, Ostrava, Olomouc, Madrid, Richmond, Mexico, Québec, etc.
An accomplished conductor, he has conducted the Hong Kong Camerata, the Martini Chamber Orchestra, the Rhineland-Palatinate State Philharmonic, the Orchestre d’Harmonie de Versailles, etc.
Born in Lille, Philippe Cuper won First Prizes at the CNSM in Paris and went on to study musicology at the Sorbonne. He is also a winner of the Munich and Prague International Competitions (unanimous First Prize). Formerly a teacher at the Conservatoire de Zaragoza (Spain), the Pôle Supérieur de la Musique de Bordeaux, and the Conservatoire de Versailles, he now teaches at the Schola Cantorum (founded by Vincent D’Indy) and the Ecole Normale de Musique (founded by Alfred Cortot), both in Paris.
In addition to being the leading authority on Louis Cahuzac, Philippe Cuper created the International Louis Cahuzac Clarinet Competition in Versailles in 2002, which has been reprised four times through 2022. His writings on Cahuzac are unmatched in the thoroughness of their research and, as Cuper is a musician himself, their understanding of the art of the clarinet.
He has travelled the world as a chamber musician and soloist, has appeared with the greatest conductors, and has taught his art at international universities and conservatoires worldwide, including in Chicago, Zurich, Beijing, London, etc. He has released some sixty CDs and DVDs — two are shown below.