Born in 1972, Lionel Gaudin-Villard studied orchestral and choral conducting at the Bayonne and Bordeaux Conservatories with Robert Delcroix and Eliane Lavail. In June 1998, he won 1st Prize in the Conducting Competition unanimously by the Bayonne Conservatory jury, following which he successively assisted Hans Graf, Michel Tranchant, Stéphane Cardon, John Nelson and Alexander Kantorov in Bordeaux, Paris and Saint Petersburg.

From 2001 to 2008, he was invited to conduct numerous orchestras and choirs in France and abroad, notably in Vienna, Prague, Saint Petersburg and Stockholm. He collaborated for several years with French opera companies and directed the Galas des Amis du Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. In 2008, he created his orchestra, the Gironde Symphony Orchestra.

Between 2008 and 2023, he devoted himself entirely to this orchestra whose main mission was to share the repertoire with young audiences. This is how he created the Mini Concerts. In 15 years, these educational concerts have brought together more than 750,000 students for 1,200 concerts, 115 different programs including 70 creations.

During this same period, he collaborated with Emmanuel Gardeil and Compagnie lyrique Chants de Garonne. He notably conducts The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni by Mozart, The Barber of Seville by Rossini and Carmen by Bizet.

With the Jeune Ballet d'Aquitaine and the Sohrab Chitan Company, he created the ballets Les fées to music by Purcell, La Boîte à joujoux after Debussy, Kuolema to music by Sibelius, The True Story of Red Riding Hood to music by Dag Wiren and Edvard Grieg.

With the vocal ensembles Résonances and Martenot, he notably conducts the Requiem (Sussmayer and Eybler verions), the Great Mass in C minor, Davidde Penittente, Coronation Mass, Vesperae solemnes de confessore by Mozart, the Mass in C Major by Beethoven, the Stabat Mater and Magnificat by Dvorak, the Requiem by Verdi, Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms, the Magnificat and Gloria by John Rutter, Gloria by Poulenc.

Lionel Gaudin-Villard's repertoire is very extensive, from the classical period to collaboration with current composers, creating works by Bruno Alexiu, Sacha Chaban, Sally Galet, Jérémie Voin, Jacques Ballue among others.

In 15 years of activity, he has acquired a solid reputation in the symphonic and lyrical fields, in dance and in the sacred repertoire.
 

Today, Lionel Gaudin-Villard devotes himself to developing a freelance career while pursuing his passion for choral singing with the Ensemble Vocal Martenot. He actively collaborates with Marco Codjia, author, always looking for new educational formats for young audiences.