A French composer born October 7, 1969 in Orléans.
Florent Gauthier studied at the Orléans Conservatory and then at the Conservatory and the University of Tours. He attended classes at the Collège de France given by Pierre Boulez before entering the Paris Conservatory in the composition class of Alain Bancquart. In the course of his studies he also met György Ligeti, Henri Dutilleux, André Boucourechliev and closely studied the works of composers he admired such as Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Witold Lutoslawski, Alfred Schnittke and Toru Takemitsu.
Gauthier composes for various formations: voice, solo instrument, ensemble and orchestra. Ever seeking a certain sensuality in sound, simplicity and humour, he often pays tribute to other composers in a personalised æsthetic of encoding. For example: Le secret des trois roses for orchestra, first performed by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Provence conducted by Alain Chalandon (1999); L’enfance d’un jour for children’s voices and piano, first performed by the Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône and Magali Frandon at the Festival de la Chaise Dieu (2007); Loops for string quartet, premiered by the Sendrez Quartet (2010); Le songe de Neptune, concerto for flute and strings, premiered by Jean-Louis Beaumadier and the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Marseille (2011); D’un monde à l’autre for piano, first performed by Flore Dupuy Martin (2016); Les paradis mécaniques for mandolin, guitar and harp, first performed by the Trio Polycordes (2017); 3X2=…4!, three duets for four strings (2019).
Gauthier also makes arrangements for the light music repertory. He has written the concert version with chorus of Dans la Jungle of the singer Renaud (2005), as well as a symphonic version of the ‘best of’ the group Satan Jokers (2016) and a ‘best of’ the songs of Renaud for Monsieur Lune (2017).
The holder of a Capes degree in music education (1993), Florent Gauthier leads a double career as composer and teacher in the Marseilles region.
