Biography
French-Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon’s music is ‘driven by a playful modern sensibility’ (The New York Times). Dubugnon has enjoyed commissions and performances from orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouworkest, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recent successes include the Concerto Héroïque for alto saxophone and orchestra, premiered in December 2023 at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall by soloist Kohei Ueno and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo.
Dubugnon was Composer-in-Residence with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne from 2013 to 2014 and with Musikkollegium Winterthur from 2016 to 2017. His BBC Proms debut took place in 2012, when his Battlefield Concerto for two piano and double orchestra was performed by the Labèque sisters conducted by Semyon Bychkov. He is a regular guest of the Verbier Festival, having written commissions for its 20th and 30th anniversaries.
Dubugnon’s compositions have been regularly championed by leading soloists such as Janine Jansen, for whom he has composed five new works including a Violin Concerto (2008), which premiered with Orchestre de Paris conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. His works have also been performed by Gautier Capuçon, Xavier de Maistre, Julian Rachlin, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Timothy Ridout, Marc-André Hamelin, Denis Kozhukhin, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. He has worked with conductors including Paavo Järvi, Ludovic Morlot, Kent Nagano, Sir Antonio Pappano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alain Altinoglu, Fabien Gabel, Debora Waldman and Thomas Zehetmair.
Dubugnon is also a double bassist, performing with leading ensembles and writing frequently for his instrument. Many of his compositions have entered the standard double bass repertoire, appearing regularly in recitals and competitions. Dubugnon toured Italy and the USA in November 2023 with the Festival Strings Lucerne, performing the solo double bass part in his Caprice IV ‘Es muss sein!’. In 2020, he wrote and performed the music to Basso continuum, a collaboration with Béjart Ballet Lausanne choreographed by the company’s artistic director Gil Roman.
2021 saw the release of Dubugnon’s Klavieriana and Chamber Symphonies on BIS Records, performed by the Musikkollegium Winterthur conducted by Thomas Zehetmair with piano soloist Noriko Ogawa. Naxos has released two portrait recordings of Dubugnon’s music: a selection from Arcanes Symphoniques performed by Orchestre National de France (2017), and a programme of chamber works (2002).
Dubugnon turned to music at the age of 20 after studying History in Montpellier. He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire, going on to study Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Upon returning to Paris in 2002, he received the Pierre Cardin Prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He was later awarded the Grand Prix for Symphonic Music from the Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers of Music as well as the Music Prize from the Swiss Fondation Vaudoise pour la Culture. He teaches Orchestration at the Aubervilliers Conservatory, near Paris.
Since 2022, Dubugnon has served as a legal expert for music at the Court of Appeal in Paris. He lives with his family in Oise, France and also resides part-time in his birth town of Lausanne, Switzerland.