Samuel Couffignal 

 

Conductor

France

After completing his musical studies in France and participating in numerous masterclasses across Europe, Samuel Couffignal refined his expertise at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW), specializing in orchestral and opera conducting under the guidance of Simeón Pironkoff and Andreas Henning.

By spearheading his own projects and maintaining boundless artistic curiosity, Couffignal has developed extensive experience and a profound affinity for a wide range of repertoires, both instrumental and vocal, spanning all eras. He served as the Artistic Director of the Meltin’Cordes orchestra—an ensemble he founded—for over 13 years. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with distinguished soloists such as Éric Franceries, Thomas Ospital, and Shin-Young Lee. During his musical journeys, the young conductor has benefited from the mentorship of Marie Jacquot, Vimbayi Kaziboni, Philippe Auguin, Jean-Bernard Matter, Marin Alsop, and Hossein Pishkar, among others.

Recognized for his professionalism, Samuel Couffignal has frequently been invited to assist renowned conductors with prestigious ensembles, including the Wiener Symphoniker, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Orchestra, and Klangforum Wien.

A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, he has worked with composers such as Franck Vaudray, German Toro Perez, Mark Andre, Anthony Girard, and Nava Hemyari, as well as specialized ensembles like Platypus, Phace, and the Webern Ensemble Wien. Furthermore, he was selected as one of the conductors for the Ligeti100 project in Budapest (2023) and has been invited to conduct at prestigious festivals including Imago Dei, the Vienna Summer Music Festival, and the Festival Cavaillé-Coll.

As a guest conductor, he has worked with the Sofia Philharmonic, the Luhansk Symphony Orchestra, and the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. His upcoming engagements include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique Région Centre-Val de Loire/Tours (OSRC-T) in France and the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Hungary.

Deeply committed to the universal values of culture and the importance of musical education, Couffignal regularly serves as a lecturer for corporations, associations, and universities. He also teaches high-level masterclasses at institutions such as the Wiener MusikSeminar, the Lysenko National Music Academy in Lviv, and the Conservatoire de Paris. Despite the ongoing conflict, he has performed regularly in Ukraine since November 2024 (Lviv, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv) in collaboration with the Institut Français and the Alliance Française of Lviv.

A Savarez Artist since 2019, Samuel Couffignal has provided material support to various musicians and ensembles throughout Europe. Since September 2023, he has served as the Music Director of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Akademisches Symphonie Orchester der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien).