Olivier Patey

Olivier Patey, who fell in love with his instrument thanks to Mozart's clarinet concerto, is passionate about music, and music is at the heart of his life. Born in 1981, he received his first nomination in 2001 from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in Michel Arrignon's class.

In 2003, he won the Audience Prize at the prestigious ARD competition in Munich, as well as the Munich Chamber Orchestra Prize for his interpretation of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, and in 2005, 1st Prize at the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark.

He then embarked on a solo career, touring the world with orchestras such as the Prague Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Zwazulu Natal Philharmonic, the Hermitage Orchestra of Saint Petersburg, the National Orchestra of Ukraine for the first edition of the “Virtuosi de la planète” festival...

Since 2013, Olivier Patey has been principal clarinet of the renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, having obtained his first position as an orchestral musician at the age of 20 with the Garde Républicaine orchestra in Paris, then with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Daniel Harding.

He has performed on several occasions with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado. Olivier Patey is also passionate about chamber music, and has been invited to numerous festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival in the USA, and plays in exceptional venues - Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw... He has also collaborated with Janine Jansen, Lisa Batiashvili, Amichaï Grosz, Paul Meyer, Mitsuko Uchida, Éric Le Sage, Emmanuel Pahud, the Quatuors Ébène and Modigliani...

With his friends, pianist Romain Descharmes and cellist Gauthier Herrmann, Olivier co-directs the ARTIES RECORDS label distributed by HARMONIA MUNDI, on which his recent chamber music recordings are released.

With his Concertgebouw Orchestra friends Alexei Ogrintchouk, Jérôme Fruchart and Olivier Thiery, he is a founding member of the variable-geometry Concertgebouw Ensemble. Olivier Patey is also deeply involved in the ARTIES festival in India, created by Gauthier Herrmann, and is now a professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

He plays Buffet Crampon clarinets, including the Tosca model in ebony and greenline, and the Légende model in boxwood.