Mathieu Dufour

Paris-born Mathieu Dufour has played the flute since he was eight years old. He initially studied under Madeleine Chassang, then later under Maxence Larrieu at the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique de Lyon. He has won numerous competitions, including the Concours de flûte Jean-Pierre Rampal. His professional career began in 1993 as principal flute with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. In 1996, he moved to the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris where held the same position. Daniel Barenboim then engaged him as principal flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1999.

In addition to his orchestral work, he has often performed as a soloist under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, and Fabio Luisi, among others. Furthermore, as a chamber musician, he works together with Mitsuko Uchida, Pinchas Zukerman, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and Julia Fischer. In May 2014, Mathieu Dufour won the audition for the post of principal flute with the Berliner Philharmoniker.