Lionel Sow

Artistic Director OF the NFM Choir.  Born in 1977, Lionel Sow studied violin, singing, harmony and counterpoint, Gregorian chant, and choir and orchestra conducting in Paris Conservatoire.   

Since 2004, he has regularly collaborated with the Radio France Choir, conducting it in a cappella concerts or preparing it for symphonic programmes. 

From 2006 to 2014, he was Artistic Director of the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris, after having worked there as assistant to Nicole Corti for four years. Throughout the seasons of the cathedral, he has endeavoured to perform the great masterpieces of sacred music and an important a cappella repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary music. He has commissioned and premiered numerous works by French composers. 

In 2011, Lionel Sow took over the direction of the Choir of the Orchestre de Paris. From 2012 to 2015, he successively created the Academy, the Chamber Choir, the Children’s Choir and the Youth Choir of the Orchestre de Paris. 

In the course of his duties, he has performed at numerous international festivals and collaborated with prestigious conductors: Thomas Adès, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Mikko Franck, Leonardo García Alarcón, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Pablo Heras-Casado, Paavo Järvi, Louis Langrée, Jesús López Cobos, Roger Norrington, Raphaël Pichon, Pascal Rophé, François-Xavier Roth, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Simone Young, Giovanni Antonini, and Simon Rattle. 

In the recent seasons, Lionel Sow has collaborated with the Dutch National Opera, London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, BBC Singers, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Academy. 

From 2017 to 2023, Lionel Sow taught choral conducting at the Lyon Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse. In October 2021, he was appointed Artistic Director of the NFM Choir in Wrocław, Poland and in September 2022, he was appointed Music Director of the Radio France Choir. 

His prolific discography includes Requiem by Gilles (Studio SM), St Matthew Passion by Schütz (Studio SM), Messe ‘Salve Regina’ by Castagnet as well as the famous Litanies à la Vierge Noire by Poulenc (Hortus) and the Vêpres de la Vierge Marie by Hersant (MSNDP). Lionel Sow was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in January 2011.