Merlin becomes director of the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Raphaël Merlin, Artistic Director of the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, will take over the same position at the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine from January 2026.
Merlin studied in Clermont-Ferrand, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris and Geneva and is co-founder of the Quatuor Ébène, which he helped shape as a cellist for 25 years. At the same time, he developed a career as a conductor and founded the chamber music collective Les Forces Majeures in 2014. Merlin will replace Jean-François Heisser in Poitiers, who has led the orchestra for 25 years.
Founded in 1981, the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine has a line-up of 45 to 50 musicians. It is based in the Théâtre Auditorium in the city of Poitiers and performs in both large cities and smaller communities.
