Judicaël Perroy

Judicaël Perroy (born July 21, 1973 in Paris) is a French classical guitarist and music teacher. He is most known for winning the 1997 Guitar Foundation of America International Solo Competition. Perroy is a Professor of Classical Guitar at Pôle Sup'93, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France and Lille’s APPSEA (Association de préfiguration du Pôle supérieur d’enseignements artistiques). He is also a professor at the Geneva University of Music.

Judicaël Perroy (2017).

Early life and education

Perroy's father played the acoustic guitar when Perroy was growing up. Perroy enrolled in the Conservatoire Municipal Inter-Arrondissements de Paris (Paris Academy of Music) at the age of 7 and started studying classical music and specifically guitar. In 1983, at the age of ten, he enrolled at the National School Academy of Aulnay-sous-Bois, taught by Delia Estrada, Roberto Aussel, and Raymond Gratien. He was considered a child prodigy. At the age of eleven, he performed two Vivaldi concertos at the Theatre du Mans, accompanied by a full orchestra conducted by Andre Girard.

Career

In 1988, at the age of fourteen, Perroy placed second at the International Competition of the Ile-de-France. Later that year, he graduated summa cum laude and was awarded first prize by the academy. He continued his studies with Pablo Márquez and then with Roberto Aussel and Daniel Lavialle. After enrolling in courses in Economics and Mathematics at university, he stopped playing the guitar for two years, from ages 17 to 19. He began to play again a few weeks before the 15th International Guitar Competition René Bartoli and entered the competition with encouragement from Raymond Gratien and was awarded the grand prize by the jury, as well as the audience prize.

Perroy earned his License de Concert from the École Normale de Musique de Paris in 1994, having studied with Alberto Ponce. The same year, he competed in the 7th International Guitar Competition of Bourg-Madame, placing first by audience choice. Two years later, in 1996, he was the first prize winner of the graduating class of the Conservatoire de Paris. He then won the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Solo Competition in 1997, held that year in La Jolla, California. The prize included a sixty-city concert tour of North America in 1998.

He subsequently has travelled internationally both as a performer and a teacher. Many of his students have won competitions, with three of them winning the GFA competition, including Thomas Viloteau.

Current academic positions

Perroy lives in Paris and has held the title of Professor of Classical Guitar at Pôle Sup'93 Seine-Saint-Denis Île-de-France (Aubervilliers) (2012–present); L'Association de préfiguration du Pôle superieur d'enseignements artistiques (APPSEA) at Lille (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) (2010–present); and L'École Nationale de Musique d'Aulnay-sous-Bois (2004–2016). He was appointed as a teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 2017 to 2021 and is currently a professor at the Geneva University of Music.

Discography

Perroy's discography mostly consists of music by classical composers (J.S. Bach, Mauro Giuliani, G.F. Handel, Isaac Albéniz) but also includes more modern guitar repertoire (Astor Piazzolla, Gerardo Núñez, Nikita Koshkin). His transcription of Bach's partita for keyboard No. 2, BWV 826 in C minor was the first transcription of the piece for classical guitar, and was released under the Naxos Records label in 2010 as part of an all-Bach CD.

• Quantum (1998): Paganini, Granados, Albéniz, Dodgson.
• Bayard Musique (new distribution, not reissued): Aspen Suite (2000); Albéniz, Giuliani, Barrios, Nuñez, Piazzolla, Koshkin.
• Mel Bay (1999): Live Recital at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas: Barrios, Piazzolla, Nuñez, Paganini, Giuliani, Bach, Albéniz.
• Bayard Musique (2001): Méditation (flute and guitar) with Florence Bellon: Schubert (arr. Mertz), Vivaldi, Handel, Castérède, Bach,Dowland, Giuliani, Poulenc, Debussy, Ravel.
• Bayard Musique (2002): Méditation (harp and guitar) with Joanna Kozielska: Rodrigo, Pachelbel, Handel, Respighi, Debussy, Bach, Handel, Albinoni, Beethoven, Albéniz.
• Soundset: The Well-tempered Koshkin (2000): In trio with Frank Koonce and Nikita Koshkin.
• Bayard Musique (2008): La Magie de la Guitare: Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert, Paganini, Albéniz, Granados, Rossini, Handel, Giuliani, Barrios, Piazzolla, Nuñez, Koshkin.
• Naxos (2010): J. S. Bach, Transcriptions for Guitar: Partita No. 2, BWV 826; Suite, BWV 997; Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, BWV 998; Concerto, BWV 972.
• Naxos (2014): M.M Ponce, Guitar Music, Vol. 4: Sonatina Meridional; Thème varié et finale (Version 2) [Ed. A. Segovia]
• Diferencias Sobre la Folía de España y Fuga: Variaciónes Sobre un Tema de A. de Cabezón; Thème varié et finale (Version 1); Guitar Sonata No. 2: Andante.
• Contrastes Records (2017): Paris Une Solitude Peuplée: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Scriabin, M.M Ponce, Takemitsu; Sor.