French cellist Marc Coppey, winner of the two highest prizes at the Bach competition Leipzig at the age of 18, first prize and special prize for the best interpretation of Bach, is considered to be one of the leading cellists of today. Sir Yehudi Menuhin discovered Marc’s talent at an early age and subsequently invited him to make his Moscow and Paris debuts performing together Tchaïkovsky Trio along with Victoria Postnikova, collaboration documented on film by the acclaimed film director Bruno Monsaingeon. In 1989, Mstislav Rostropovitch invited Marc to the Evian Festival and from that moment on his solo career took off.

A frequent soloist with leading orchestras, Marc Coppey has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Alan Gilbert, Lionel Bringuier, Eliahu Inbal, Alain Altinoglu, Emmanuel Krivine, Yutaka Sado, Michel Plasson, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Christian Arming, Pascal Rophé, Kirill Karabits, Yan-Pascal Tortelier and Asher Fisch among others. Mr. Coppey has appeared on numerous occasions in Europe, North and South America and Asia and in some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salle Pleyel, the Théâtre de la Ville, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Philharmonie in Paris, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Liszt Conservatory Hall in Budapest, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, the Philharmonie in Saint-Petersburg, the Casals Hall in Tokyo or the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He is a regular guest of the festivals of Radio-France-Montpellier, Strasbourg, Besançon, La Roque d’Anthéron, Monte-Carlo, Nantes and Lisbon “Folle Journée”, Bach Fest in Leipzig, Stuttgart, Midem, Kuhmo, Korsholm, West Cork or Prades.

An avid chamber music player, Marc Coppey has explored and performed the cello repertoire with such renowned artists as Maria-Joao Pires, Stephen Kovacevich, Nicholas Angelich, Michel Beroff, Nelson Goerner, Kun-Woo Paik, Finghin Collins, Peter Laul, François-Frédéric Guy, Augustin Dumay, Victoria Mullova, Valeriy Sokolov, Liana Gourdjia, Alina Pogostkina, Tedi Papavrami, Ilya Gringolts, David Grimal, Lawrence Power, Gérard Caussé, Janos Starker, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Emmanuel Pahud and the Tokyo, Takacs, Prazak, Modigliani, Ebène or Talich Quartets. From 1995 to 2000 he was a member of the Ysaÿe Quartet, performing at the most prestigious international concert venues.

The breadth of Marc Coppey's repertoire is proof of his profound inquisitiveness: he frequently plays the complete Bach Suites and other well-known and loved concert repertoire, and also brings to the public’s attention works that are rarely heard. Performing and promoting contemporary music is very important to Marc Coppey and composers such as Auerbach, Christian, Dufourt, Durieux, Fedele, Fénelon, Hurel, Jarrell, Jolas, Krawczyk, Lenot, Mantovani, Meïmoun, Monnet, Pauset, Poppe, Reverdy, Staud, Tanguy have all dedicated works to him. He gave the world premieres of Lenot, Tanguy and Monnet cello concertos as well as giving French premieres of concertos by Carter, Mantovani and Tüür.

In 2015, he premiered ten cello solo pieces by today’s most prominent composers as a tribute to Pierre Boulez at the Paris Philharmonie.

The Arte TV channel recently filmed him live performing the complete Bach Suites in one evening in Lyon.

Marc Coppey’s recordings have received critical acclaim worldwide. They include works by Beethoven, Debussy, Emmanuel, Fauré, Grieg and Strauss, produced by the labels Naïve, Decca, Harmonia Mundi and K617. Among his last recordings are the concertante works by Théodore Dubois on the Mirare label (world premiere). His release of the complete Bach Suites (awarded Télérama’s ffff) and a CD dedicated to Dohnanyi (featured in the “10 de Répertoire”), were both recorded for the Aeon/Outhere label. Together with the Prazak Quartet, Marc Coppey recorded the Schubert Quintet for the Praga label. His discography also includes the great Russian cello sonatas, accompanied by pianist Peter Laul (Aeon), a performance of Martin Matalon’s concerto (Accord/ Universal), a CD of the Brahms Sonatas with pianist Peter Laul and a Schubert album. His recording of the Dutilleux Cello Concerto and the Caplet Epiphanie with the Liège Orchestra under Pascal Rophé’s direction received a BBC Music Magazine *****, a Diapason d’Or and a “Choc” du Monde de la Musique.

In 2016, his recording of the Haydn and CPE Bach cello concertos with the Zagreb Soloists has been released by Audite.

In November 2009, Marc Coppey was invited to play Bach in Paris on the Place de la Concorde marking the 20th anniversary since the Fall of the Wall in Berlin.

In addition to his solo concert career and his chamber music activities, Marc Coppey is a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and gives master-classes all over the world.

He is artistic director of the Colmar Chamber Music Festival and since 2011, musical director of the Zagreb Soloists and performs on a rare cello by Matteo Goffriller (Venice 1711), the « Van Wilgenburg ». He resides in Paris.

He was made Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Culture Ministry in 2014.

Marc Coppey was born in Strasbourg, France. He studied cello at the conservatory of his home town, before attending the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur and the University of Indiana in Bloomington (USA).