Cellist Raphaël Pidoux proclaims himself an ambassador of the French school of cello, and he has lived up to the claim with strong involvement in the musical lives of young people. He has been successful both as a chamber player with the Trio Wanderer, which he co-founded, and as a soloist. Pidoux was born on August 9, 1967, in Paris. His father, Roland Pidoux, was a cellist and conductor (and also a chamber player) who gave his son his first lessons. Raphaël attended the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP), studying with Philippe Müller, and on graduating in 1987, he won his class' first prize. He went on to complete a well-rounded education as a cellist, studying Baroque music with Christophe Coin, chamber music with members of the Amadeus Quartet at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany, and mainstream cello repertory with Janos Starker at the University of Indiana in the U.S. Along the way, he won other awards: the Leipzig International Bach Competition in 1988, and, in 1990, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in the U.S. with the Trio Wanderer, which he had co-founded in 1987. Pidoux has continued to perform and record extensively with that group, winning Victoires de la musique classique awards with the trio in 1997, 2000, and 2008. In 2011, he made his solo debut, recording an album of sonatas by Ernst von Dohnányi and Zoltán Kodály with pianist Emmanuel Strosser. As a soloist, Pidoux has performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Sinfonia Varsovia, and the Baroque Ensemble of Limoges, among other groups, working with prestigious collaborators, including baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and violist Antoine Tamestit. Pidoux has been especially influential as an educator. Beginning in the late 2000s, he taught for seven years at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris, known as the CRR. Then, in 2014, he succeeded his teacher Müller as professor of cello at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. Pidoux has recorded for the Integral, Timpani, and Mirare labels, issuing an album of concertos by the Classical-era composer Jean-Louis Duport on the latter label in 2019. He returned in 2021 on Harmonia Mundi with a recording of Beethoven's Cello Sonatas, Op. 5, and two years later, he was heard with the ensemble Cello8 on the album Ode à la nuit. He is co-director of the Prometheus 21 ensemble, and in 2010, he founded the Association Talents & Violon'celles, which aims to put good-quality cellos in the hands of students who otherwise could not afford them; Cello8 was an offshoot of that organization. ~ James Manheim, Rovi