Biography

Born in La Rochelle, France, Clément Saunier started playing trumpet at the Ecole de Musique Municipale de Surgères and pursued his apprenticeship at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de La Rochelle.

At the age of 17, he joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris where he won his first prizes in trumpet and chamber music unanimously with the congratulations of the members of the jury. He also followed an advanced course at the CNSMDP, an opportunity which to this day remains rare for a trumpet player.

His performances at international music competitions were rewarded by prestigious prizes in Porcia (Italy, 2002), at the Prague Spring Festival (2003), at Jeju (South Korea 2004), in Brussels (2005) and in Paris (2006).

He also became famous through the quintet ‘TROMBAMANIA’ at the international chamber music competition in Guebwiller (2003), in Passau (Germany, 2004), at the FNAPEC (2004) and at Illzach (2005).

An international artist, Clément Saunier gives a number of concerts and recitals (Festival of Deauville, Festival of Venice, Festival of Cagliari, in Japan, in Seoul, in South Korea, in Slovakia, in Taiwan, in Colombia...) and makes recordings for radio and television.

In 1998, he co-founded the Académies de Cuivres et Percussions de Surgères which every summer accommodate about a hundred students of every level from all over France who are trained by an internationally renowned team of teachers. In addition to the academies, a festival of classical and jazz music is being developed and each year features prestigious music groups and increasing audiences.

In 2003, he joined the Orchestre des Gardiens de la Paix de Paris and made 9 recordings with the group between 2003 and 2009.

In 2003, he became principal solo cornet with the Æolus Brass Band under the leadership of Bastien Stil. It was with this band that he won all the national titles from 2004 to 2008 and became famous on the international scene (Holland, Taiwan, England…).

in May 2008, at the ‘All England Masters International Brass Band Championships’ in Cambridge (England) where the Aeolus Brass Band won a historic third place, Clément took the prize for the best instrumentalist of the competition and became the first non-British player to obtain this distinction since the competition’s inception in 1989.

Clément Saunier is a teacher at the conservatoire in the 13th district of Paris and directs the conservatoire’s junior band that he founded in 2005.

In cooperation with the Henri Selmer company of Paris which he represents in France and abroad, he is working on a new range of trumpets under the name of ‘Sigma’, the first versions of which were marketed in June 2007.

His discography, just like his career as a soloist, has taken off over a period of a few months. His rendition of André Jolivet’s ‘Second Concerto for Trumpet’ recorded with the Orchestre des Gardiens de la Paix de Paris and directed by Philippe Ferro has received critical acclaim both in France and internationally. His recordings with Trombamania (2007) and the Æolus Brass Band (2007) have also been greeted enthusiastically by the public and have been sold in several countries.

In 2008, he collaborated with the Cristal Records label to record a collection of educational DVD-ROMs which include 250 reference works in 3 volumes from the repertoire for trumpet and piano for trumpet players of all levels.