Laurent Petitgirard’s career as a composer of symphonic music, operas and film music is matched by his activities as a guest conductor all over the world. His concertos have been performed and recorded by eminent soloists including Augustin Dumay, Gary Hoffmann, Gérard Caussé, Emmanuel Pahud, Marie-Pierre Langlamet and Michel Supéra. Music director of the Orchestre Colonne in Paris from 2005 to 2018, and the Orchestre symphonique français from 1988 to 1997, Petitgirard has recorded over 40 albums.
As a guest conductor he has appeared with the Paris Opéra Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de France, Bamberger Philharmoniker, Berliner Symphoniker, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Utah Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Spanish National Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and the China National Symphonic Orchestra.
His first opera, Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, was first performed in 2002 at the Prague and Nice Operas, and in 2006 at the Minnesota Opera. His second opera Guru was nominated as CD of the Month by Classica magazine, and was premiered at Opera at the Castle in Szczecin. Laurent Petitgirard’s concertos for violin, viola, cello and saxophone, symphonic poems, operas and the ballet suite The Little Prince have been released on Naxos.
In February 2017 he was elected Perpetual Secretary of the Beaux-Arts Academy.