Xavier Gagnepain is the cellist of the Rosamonde Quartet. He is currently a professor at the Pôle Supérieur of Paris-Boulogne Billancourt. He is also regularly invited to serve on academies and juries, including at the Pernoo School of Musical Performance.
Xavier Gagnepain is a French cellist who studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Maurice Gendron and at Yale University in the United States. He has received prizes at international competitions, including the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the São Paulo Competition.
He has pursued a dual career as both a soloist and chamber musician, performing with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Radio Orchestra, and the Moscow Soloists. He regularly performs with pianist Hortense Cartier-Bresson.
A dedicated chamber musician, he was a member of the Trio à cordes de Paris from 2002 until 2007, and is notably associated with the Rosamonde Quartet. The quartet won major distinctions, including prizes at the Évian International Competition in 1983 and first prize at the Salzburg competition of the European Broadcasting Union in 1986. With the ensemble, he collaborated closely with composer Henri Dutilleux and recorded the quartet Ainsi la nuit.
His discography includes both concertos and chamber music, ranging from duo to sextet.
He has also contributed to pedagogy, authoring a book commissioned by the Cité de la musique, published in 2001 under the title Du musicien en général au violoncelliste en particulier. He teaches at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt.
