After completing his studies at the Paris Conservatory, Jean Geoffroy forged his own personal path in the world of percussion. He was Principal Timpanist of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris from 1985 to 2000, soloist and founder of the contemporary music ensemble Court-Circuit in 1988, member of the Menuhin Foundation "Music Presence". Tireless performer when it comes to living a new work, Jean Geoffroy has participated as a soloist in more than thirty five CDs and DVDs; among them, six dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach, gathering the complete suites, partitas and sonatas written for one instrument, Goldberg Variations, « Attacca » acclaimed and rewarded by music critics, « Monodrame », and new CDs that will comes out in 2018-19 « Hors Jeu » an integrale of trio Sonatas by J.S Bach.

 

Dedicatee and first performer of many works for solo percussion, he has performed as a guest soloist at the most prestigious worldwide festivals. Aside from his soloist activities, Jean Geoffroy has given master-classes and lectures at major universities all over the world for more than 35 years. Passionate about teaching, author of several books on education including a book on teaching percussion in the Point de vue Collection of the Cité de la musique Paris, he is editor of 10 Years with the Percussion, published by the City of Music Paris. Director of different collections for Lemoine publisher, he created in 2005 « Regards », « Contemporary Perspectives », and « Transversal » new collections published by Alfonce publisher.

 

After teaching at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (1993 – 1998) Jean Geoffroy has taught at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon since 1999, and has been a didactic teacher in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris since 2006.

 

From 1995 to 2004, he regularly participated in the pedagogical curriculum at IRCAM, creating a significant number of pieces for solo percussion with electronic and chamber music pieces. He is a member of the lecture committee at IRCAM.

 

In 2004 he created Light Music by Thierry de Mey for « solo conductor » and the interactive device at the Music Scene Festival in Lyon. This collaboration opened up new perspectives and allowed him to explore other directions in his solo career, including smartphone music development in collaboration with GRAME, Christophe Lebreton (National Musical Research Center).

 

Jean Geoffroy was Artistic Director of the Eklekto International Percussion Center in Geneva from 2006 to 2013, president and artistic director of the Giot International Competition (for vibraphone), president of the Geneva International Competition for Percussion in 2009, and he is a regularly invited as jury member in international competitions.

 

From 2015 to 2017, Jean Geoffroy was Artistic Director of the Percussions in Strasbourg and enabled the group to be renewed and perpetuated, from the 3rd to the 4th generation of musicians and widened their artistic proposals. His work with the ensemble was welcomed by critics and he obtained numerous awards including Victoire de la musique, Diapason d'Or, and Coup de Cœur Charles Cros.

 

For some years now, Jean Geoffroy has conducted various ensembles in France and South America, where he created the Instrumental ensemble of the National University of Bogota with which he played music by P. Boulez, K. Stochausen, and H. Vasquez. He also conducted the Namascae ensemble in the works of Eric Gaudibert.

 

Jean Geoffroy was guest conductor of Mésostics ensemble, with which he plays regularly and recorded a CD and DVD dedicated to Martin Matalon and Philippe Hurel. This recording was reviewed positively by musical critics.

 

In 2017 Jean Geoffroy developed the Light Wall System with Christophe Lebreton, a luminous interface for gesture capture, in collaboration with the Grame (national center of musical creation), and developed new interfaces linking sound and movement. In 2019, Jean Geoffroy and Christophe Lebreton founded LiSiLoG dedicated to Artistic innovation and transmission. See www.lisilog.com for more information. Find all information on the personal website of Jean Geoffroy, www.jeangeoffroy.wordpress.com.