Guy Dangain

Guy Dangain (born 12 July 1935) is a French classical clarinetist.

Born in Sains-en-Gohelle (Pas-de-Calais), Dangain, originally from the Pas-de-Calais mining area, began his musical studies in the orchestra of the mining town of Sains-en-Gohelle.

From 1951 to 1952, he studied at the Conservatoire de Lille with Edmond Hannart.

He then studied with Ulysse Delécluse at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he obtained a first prize in 1953.

As clarinet soloist with the Orchestre national de France 1963 to 1993, he performed under the direction of Lorin Maazel, Neville Marriner, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Bernstein, Jean Martinon, Karl Munchinger, Emmanuel Krivine, Marc Soustrot, Karel Husa and Manuel Rosenthal.

He won the Grand Prix du Disque (académie Charles-Cros) for his interpretation of Claude Debussy's Rhapsody, with the Orchestre national de France conducted by Jean Martinon.

In chamber music, he played with Isaac Stern, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Régis Pasquier, Patrice Fontanarosa, Michel Dalberto, Roland Pidoux.

He first taught clarinet from 1972 to 1975, and has taught at the École normale de musique de Paris since 2000.

He is the musical director of a collection of scores and educational works published by Billaudot, and is a tester and designer for the wind instrument manufacturer Selmer.

Strongly attached to the amateur musical world, he served several years as president of the artistic council of the Confédération musicale de France.

From 1975 to 2000, as professeur de déchiffrage of the Conservatoire de Paris, Dangain gave master classes around the world, including the Tchaikovski Conservatory in Moscow, the United States (Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, Cincinnati), China (Beijing, Shanghai, Canton, Hong Kong), Taiwan, Korea and Turkey.

In 1992, he helped found the Haut-Bugey Music Festival.

He is an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes académiques.