Born into a musical family, Gérard Lecointe began his musical training with the piano, which he studied with Marcel Ciampi, professor at the Paris CNSM, until he was 18 years old. Between the Paris and Lyon’s CNSM, he chose François Dupin’s class in Lyon and took part in the setting-up of the percussion class at the new CNSM. PCL (Percussions Claviers de Lyon) were born out of this first class. While he thus watched over the new-born ensemble, Gérard Lecointe took part in 1983 in the creation of the Orchestre de l’Opéra National of Lyon in which he was one of the leading percussionists until 1998, performing regularly with the likes of John Eliot Gardiner and Kent Nagano. He then became solo percussionist of Forum, an ensemble dedicated to contemporary music, and of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, which drew his attention to contemporary music. From 1998, PCL’s growing activities led him away from those orchestras. Gérard Lecointe also devotes part of his time to teaching percussions, especially at the Lyons Conservatoire and at the Ecole de Musique of Rive de Gier. But for a few years Gérard Lecointe has also been composing numerous pedagogical books and works for solo players. He became artistic co-director of the FIPA (International Forum for Contemporary Percussions) in 1995.
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