Jean-Baptiste Robin
concert organist

Professor of Organ,
Conservatoire National de Région de Versailles

Titulaire Organist,
Poitiers Cathedral, France

08/09 Season Tour Periods:
2009: February 22 through March 1

"A talented young fellow with exceptional keyboard technique and a virtuosic delivery." (Michael Barone, Pipedreams )

"Mr Robin, a protégé of the great French organist/scholar Marie-Claire Alain , plays stylishly and well." (Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News)

Jean-Baptiste Robin has appeared throughout Europe, Japan, North Africa, and the United States, at notable venues such as the Royal Festival Hall in London, Notre-Dame de Paris, Musashino in Tokyo, and at international festivals such as Toulouse-les-orgues, Saint-Bertrand de Comminges , Freiberg, Coblenz, Haarlem, Monaco, and Granada.

He has served on the faculties of organ academies in Haarlem, Tübingen , Rottenburg, Haarlem, Sapporo, Texas, and Ohio. He has given master classes for the American Guild of Organists, at the International Summer Academy in Haarlem (Holland), the Sapporo Organ Academy, the Hochschule of Tübingen and Rottenburg, the Conservatory of Music of Cincinnati, and each year at the Academy in la Chaise-Dieu and the Poitiers Summer Academy.

Jean-Baptiste Robin has composed more than 15 works ranging from solo pieces (for piano or organ) to music for full symphony orchestra (performed by the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London). He was awarded prizes in composition from the Institut des Beaux-Arts and the Fondation Lagarère and has won the Prix François de Roubaix, the Grand Prix de la ville de Bordeaux, and the international competition in Nice. In 2007-2008 he composed works for organ commissioned by Lawrence University in Kansas, the Fondation Marcelle de Lacour, and the Merklin Organ Association. He will record his organ music on the Saint-Eustache organ in October 2008 for Naxos.

His first commercial recording, featuring the organ music of Louis Marchand, was cited with the highest distinctions by several music publications, including Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, and Classica magazine. This recording obtained the "Coup de Coeur" from the Charles Cros Academy and the coveted Diapason d'Or of the year. Jean-Baptiste Robin has also recorded the complete organ music of Felix Mendelssohn (Triton) and François Couperin (Naxos).

Jean-Baptiste Robin studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris where he was awarded seven First Prizes for organ, figured bass, counterpoint, 16th-century polyphony, and 20th-century harmony and orchestration. Additional studies in organ were with Marie-Claire Alain (with whom he studied the complete organ music of Jehan Alain), Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, and Louis Robilliard. Additional studies in composition were with George Benjamin at King's College, London, and with Marc-André Dalbavie.

Jean-Baptiste Robin performed one of the most beautiful recitals
in the history of the Haarlem Organ Festival
at St. Bavo-his is a name never to forget." (Haarlem Magazine, Holland)

"He is the dignified successor to Marie-Claire Alain and André Isoir."
(Le Monde la Musique, France)

"Perfect clarity and virtuosity. The Bach chorals were a highly emotional
moment, with notes like tears and the soul of the audience totally at
peace. This concert was synonymous with perfection."
(Le Figaro, Paris)

"Jean-Baptiste Robin champions the cause of Marchand's organ music with a
stylish sense of ease and maturity. His is a great talent."
(Diapason, France)

"Regard vers l'Aïr is a sumptuous fresco-mysterious and virtuosic. The organist
and composer Jean-Baptiste Robin was fascinating in his piece, showing
incredible technique and musical intensity."
(La Nouvelle République, France)

"Jean-Baptiste Robin is the new Marcel Dupré, with his miraculous technique
and the post-symphonic style of his compositions."
(Le Journal d'Alsace, France)

"One cannot but help admiring the wonderfully sensitive interpretation.
This recording is astonishing in every possible way."
(Classica, France)

"Jean-Baptiste is the ideal interpreter of this music. His recording may
be considered definitive." (Répertoire, France)