The French clarinetist Michel Lethiec is currently regarded as one of the leading figures in the international musical world. A frequent guest on concert and festival stages, he is also deeply committed to teaching and actively involved in research and the promotion of repertoire, both as a performer and as a program designer.

He performs as a soloist and in chamber music with the most renowned performers and orchestras.

An enthusiastic interpreter of contemporary music, he has premiered numerous works and concertos, including pieces by Penderecki, Corigliano, Denisov, Maratka, Ballif, Landowski, Decoust, Dalbavie, Fourchotte, Risset, Scolari, Narita, Brotons, Hersant, Giraud, Lee and Ryu.

His extensive discography for Lyrinx, Naxos, Arion, RCA, Bis, Talent and Actes Sud includes two Grand Prix du Disque and several first recordings, among them the concertos and chamber music of Krzysztof Penderecki, Porgy & Bess, Préludes, and Gershwin’s Concerto in F in an arrangement by Frank Villard for clarinet and strings, as well as The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind by Golijov with string quartet (live recording).

His second recording of Penderecki’s Concerto (conducted by the composer) received the International Record Award (March 2016). The quintets by Bernard Herrmann and David Del Tredici have also entered his discography with the Fine Arts Quartet (Naxos).

A CD devoted to clarinet music by Krzysztof Maratka (chamber music and the concerto Luminarium) was released by Arion, with the composer at the piano, violist Karine Lethiec, the Zemlinsky Quartet and the Talich Orchestra.

In November 2018, with Patrick Gallois and the Orchestra Juventus of Warsaw, he premiered Krzysztof Penderecki’s new Concerto for flute, clarinet and orchestra.

A renowned pedagogue, he is Honorary Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, Professor at the Nice Conservatory, regularly gives masterclasses in major foreign institutions and serves on international competition juries.

Founder of the International Academy of Chamber Music of Prades and Artistic Director of the prestigious Pablo Casals Festival for several decades, he has welcomed every summer the greatest chamber musicians and their students in original programs presented at the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and in several world capitals: Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Puerto Rico.

Michel Lethiec is a Knight of the National Order of Merit and of the Order of Arts and Letters.

He plays a set of Henri SELMER Paris Recital clarinets.