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Olivier Anthony Theurillat (pronounced Töria) is a Swiss trumpeter and conductor. Theurillat’s musical life began in La Chaux-de-Fonds, (also birthplace of Chevrolet). His musical studies advanced to Versailles, Paris, New York, Lausanne, Geneva, London, Berlin and Bern, where he currently lives.

Theurillat studied trumpet with Patrick Lehmann, Roger Delmotte, Antoine Curé and Raymond Mase. He studied conducting with Martyn Brabbins – who was a pupil of Ilya Musin and his mentor for conducting.

After oboist Heinz Holliger in the late 1950’s, Theurillat remains only the second Swiss musician to have been awarded prizes in both international solo competitions in Munich (ARD, 1997) and Geneva (CIEM, 1996). Among his other prizes, the Maurice André Competition in Albert (1993), and the National Trumpet Competition at George Mason University, USA (1996).

An avid orchestra player, he has toured worldwide as a member of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (Principal Trumpet 1996-2002), the Bern Symphony Orchestra (Principal Trumpet 2005-2012), as a guest with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (with Reinhold Friedrich, under maestro Claudio Abbado), Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Zurich Opera, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Natonal de France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

His wide interest for all music has led him to play with specialized ensembles. For contemporary music, he has performed with the Ensemble InterContemporain Paris and Klangforum Wien, in such venues as the Salzburg Festival or the Cité de la Musique in Paris. He has played baroque trumpet (with Austrian expert Wolfgang Gaisböck), having played under conductors Giovanni Antonini, Ton Koopman, Werner Ehrhardt, Fabio Biondi, Christophe Rousset, with ensembles such as Concerto Köln, L’Orfeo Barockorchester Linz, Camerata Salzburg, Camerata Bern, and Cappricio Barockorchester Basel.

As a soloist, he has appeared in Europe and in the United States, performing more than thirty different solo works with orchestra accompaniment, with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Suisse Romande Orchestra, Virtuosi di Praga, Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestre Symphonique Français, Festival Strings Lucerne, Camerata Schweiz, Collegium Musicum Basel, Cornell Chamber Orchestra and many others. Theuriallat has been an active collaborator with composers, premiering new compositions written by Jean Balissat, Emile de Ceuninck, Arturo Corrales, Xavier Dayer, Richard Dubugnon, Vivian Fung, Jacques Henry, Horatiu Radulescu and Julien-François Zbinden. He made his first appearance at the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference In 2017 (Hershey, PA) performing a recital featuring Swiss composers.

He has recorded as a soloist and orchestral player for numerous labels including Claves, Teldec, EuroArts, Deutsche Grammophon, Swiss Radio, Grammont, Cascavelle, Arte Nova, cpo, Dabringhaus & Grimm and Gallo-VDE. He is the featured soloist for the piece Ascensus written by Jean-Claude Schlaepfer, for trumpet and low strings, recorded by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert. His solo album Nocturne has received critical acclaim, in particular for his interpretation of Quiet City (awarded “best version” after a blind test on Swiss Radio), as well as his newly orchestrated version of Enesco’s Legend (orchestration by Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon, music sold by Hickman Music Editions).

Wynton Marsalis said of him, “His eagerness and vivre for music and the trumpet quickly made an impression on me. With the 2002 release of his solo CD Nocturne, the trumpet community, and musicians in general have a work that is a fine example of lyrical playing. In particular, Nocturne demonstrates the depth and humanity of Olivier’s sound. It was soulful, too!” Olivier’s continual quest for a greater understanding of music and his strong musical goals set him apart from many other musicians. He seeks to reach an understanding in music that is pure and logical.” Recently, French label Indésens Records produced Theurillat’s early recordings; establishing 28 tracks of streaming music on platforms such as ITunes and YouTube. This collection features famous works by Honegger, Haydn, Arban, Tomasi, Clarke, DeFalla, Bitsch, Schnyder, Michel, Castérède, Blacher and Mozart.

For thirteen years (2005-2018), he was an active trumpet teacher and educator, bringing new projects to the forefront. He was Chair of the Brass Department, Professor for trumpet and Founder/Conductor of Brass & Rhythm at the Haute Ecole de Musique (HEMU) in Lausanne. He also taught orchestral repertoire training at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern. During the summer, he was resident professor for trumpet at the Tibor Varga Summer Academy in Sion, Switzerland. He was regularly invited for master-classes in Europe, Brazil and USA (twice at Juilliard). In 2018, he initiated a new Brass Festival at the Lausanne University, which included master-classes, lectures, historical workshops and concerts. Two of the highlights were the commission and world premiere of a “Concerto” composed by Jean-François Michel for brass quintet and brass band, and the performance of Mussorgsky/Howarth Pictures at an Exhibition for brass orchestra, conducted by Theurillat himself.

Most recently, with the encouragement and support of Wynton Marsalis (who has known Theurillat for more than 20 years), he has begun performing jazz. His first album “1st Set” came out on Indésens Jazz Records, followed by the release of "Tie-Break", a live performance at the Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS). He has played jazz in various venues, such as the Maurice André Festival in Alès, the Pornic Festival in France, the Beijing Jazz Café in China and many places in Switzerland. The Bern Symphony Orchestra has engaged him to lead its orchestra in a big band setting, called BSO Jazz Orchestra, for its family concerts series and late night programs

Attracted by conducting while a member of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Theurillat received his Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Geneva Conservatoire. While in the UK, he become a regular pupil of Martyn Brabbins (renowned British conductor and mentor) and presented his conducting with groups such as the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Nash Ensemble, and the Scottish Ensemble. In 2003, Theurillat obtained his first position as a conductor, becoming Music Director of the Redhill Sinfonia. Additionally he served as the artistic director for Sinfonia Nova London. Other conducting opportunities consist of assistant conductor to Christoph von Dohnanyi (offer from the Philharmonia Orchestra, not completed), Kurt Masur (Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival, São Paulo) and Wilson Hermanto (Lausanne Sinfonietta). Theurillat has conducted various concerts in Switzerland in different styles and settings. In the Spring 2019, he made his debut with opera repertoire, having served as assistant conductor for Kevin John Edusei, Music Director of the Bern Opera House, for the opera "Reigen".