Marc Coppey attracted the attention of the music world by winning, at only 18 years old, the two highest awards of the Leipzig Bach Competition. It was there that he was also noticed by Yehudi Menuhin, who immediately wanted to work with him. From then on, it was one success after another. He made his debut in Moscow, then in Paris, Rostropovitch invited him to the Evian Festival. His international career as a soloist was launched.
His career is marked by great eclecticism. He worked with conductors as different as Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Emmanuel Krivine, Alan Gilbert, Michel Plasson, Paul McCreesh and Kirill Karabits. A fervent chamber music practitioner, he was the cellist of the Ysaÿe Quartet for five years. In addition, he collaborates with colleagues from various backgrounds, such as Maria-João Pires, Nicholas Angelich, François- Frédéric Guy, Nelson Goerner, Valeriy Sokolov, Tedi Papavrami and Michel Portal.
Marc Coppey’s repertoire illustrates his great curiosity: while he frequently gives the complete Bach Suites and the great concert repertoire, he also defends current creations. He regularly plays works by contemporary composers (Auerbach, Bertrand, Durieux, …), and is responsible for the French premieres of concertos by Carter, Mantovani and Tüür. In March 2015, he gave the first performance at the Philharmonie de Paris of a dozen works for solo cello by the greatest composers of today, on the occasion of Pierre Boulez’s 90th birthday.
Equally sensitive to the question of transmission, Marc Coppey reconciles his career as a soloist with teaching activities: a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, he gives masterclasses all over the world.
He played a cello by Matteo Goffriller (Venice 1711).
