Ivan Couëffé

Ivan Couëffé began his musical studies at the Conservatoire de Lyon in the class of Hervé Billaut, then furthered his training with Hortense Cartier Bresson. Exploring the repertoire of French melody and Lied from an early stage, he was unanimously admitted in 2006 to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of vocal accompaniment with Anne Le Bozec and Emmanuel Olivier, studies that culminated in 2009 with a Premier Prix awarded with the highest distinction.

Alongside his studies at the Conservatoire, he continued his training with Ruben Lifschitz and performed at numerous festivals, including the Abbaye de Royaumont and the Festival de Chaillol. He recorded two albums with the Atelier des Chanteurs led by Stéphane Goldet at Radio-France, focusing on melodies by Debussy, Delage, and Schuehmacher. In 2010 and 2011, he deepened his knowledge of the operatic world at the Staatsoper in Berlin and the Volksoper in Vienna.

From 2009 to 2012, he was the pianist on the tour of Le Pauvre Matelot by Darius Milhaud, directed by Christian Gangneron in a co production between ARCAL and Angers Nantes Opéra, and he was invited to perform recitals at the National Opera of Havana in Cuba in 2010.

He received guidance from renowned musicians such as Marie Françoise Bucquet, Julius Drake, Roger Vignoles, Udo Reinemann, and Inger Södergren during master classes at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Musée d’Orsay, and DeSingel in Antwerp. In 2016, he was invited to give a master class on French melody at the Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan.

From 2013 to 2016, he served as assistant professor in the piano accompaniment class at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, where he currently teaches practical harmony. He is also an assistant in the piano classes at IMEP.