Titular organist of the choir organ
Born on June 25, 2001.
Axel de Marnhac was initially a student of François Clément at the CRR in Clermont-Ferrand between 2008 and 2019, and obtained his DEM in 2018.
At 17, he prepared for the difficult entrance exam to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP) where he was admitted on the first attempt in February 2019. He had an exemplary career there, winning the highest awards and which concluded with a Master’s degree in organ with unanimous honors, where he performed Maurice Duruflé’s organ work entirely from memory in Saint-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris, on the keyboards of the composer’s instrument. During this course, he followed the teachings of Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard and Thomas Ospital. He also holds a Master’s degree in basso continuo from the same institution, with honors, specializing in 17th-century repertoires with Thierry Maeder and Pierre Cazes.
Axel de Marnhac has been perfecting his skills since September 2024 in Vincent Warnier’s organ class at the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris and is preparing for a career as a concert performer.
An improviser and composer, appointed by competition in September 2024 as choir organist of the prestigious Saint-Sulpice church in Paris, he also perfected his skills with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin for improvisation, and benefited from the valuable advice of Daniel Roth for interpretation and composition. During Sunday services at Saint-Sulpice where he plays the choir organ, he improvises or interprets in dialogue with the three organists of the Grand-Orgue.
Since the age of 10, Axel de Marnhac has been the organist of the Delhumeau organ of the church of Pontaumur, a copy of J.S. Bach’s organ in Arnstadt, where he plays at all services before moving to Paris. He is also a substitute for the great organ of the Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand between 2016 and 2020 where he created his 1st Symphony for Great Organ in 5 movements in 2015 and in April 2017 his opus 4 Symphonie-Résurrection for Great Organ in 7 movements in front of the city’s musical authorities.
During the summer of 2017, he was accepted among the 4 finalists of the international improvisation competition of Etretat.
In parallel with his organ studies at the CNSMDP, he obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Master’s degrees in History at Sorbonne-Université.