Olivier Vernet
was born in Vichy, France. His early passion for the organ leads him to become a student of Gaston Litaize at the National Regional Conservatory in St Maur des Fossés where he won 5 Gold Medals and the Concert Diploma with honors. Subsequently he spent a year studying with Marie Claire Alain at the National Regional Conservatory in Rueil Malmaison, where an unanimous jury awarded him First Prize for Virtuosity with the congratulations of the jury. In 1988, he earned a teaching degree and, in 1990, he won First Prize as organist, at the Paris Conservatory (CNSM) in the class of Michel Chapuis. His later exceptional career confirms the hopes represented by all these awards.

In 1984, Mr. Vernet was unanimously awarded First Prize with honors at the International Competition organised by the U.F.A.M. in Paris, and, in 1991, he was first prize winner at the International Organ Competition in Bordeaux. He also has received awards from the Aram Khachaturian, the Marcel Bleustein Blanchet, and the Yehudi Menuhin foundations.

Mr. Vernet is titular organist at the Cathedral of Monaco since January 2006 and co-titular organist in the Church of St. Louis in Vichy (with its exceptional Bernard Aubertin organ) since 1991.

He maintains an international career as soloist and concert artist. Within the span of 20 years Mr. Vernet has given more than 800 performances: in Paris (Notre-Dame, La Madeleine, St-Etienne-du-Mont and Radio France amongst others) and throughout France, as well as Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia, Canada, USA and Japan.

He is often invited to perform at the most prestigious organ and music festivals : Ambronnay, Angers, Auvers-sur-Oise, Besançon, Chartres, Vieux-Lyon, Masevaux, Poitiers (Collavoce), St-Riquier, Mougins, International Festival of Roque-d’Anthéron, Roquevaire, Soultz, Strasbourg, Touraine Festival, Florilège Vocal of Tours, Uzès, Vézère, , “Flâneries musicales de Reims”, Sacred Art Festival of Nice, “Festival de l’été Mosan”, International Festival of Stressa and Padua (Italy), International Festival of Monaco, Flanders Festival, the Bach Festival in Ansbach (Germany)…

In Nantes, one day in January 2000, as part of La Folle Journée Bach festival, he gave several recitals on an organ specially installed for the occasion in the Great Hall of the Nantes Convention Center, along side of some of the most prominent European soloists and ensembles. One of the recitals was televised.

He often takes the stage with a variety of orchestras and ensembles such as the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stradivaria Orchestra, the Jacques Moderne Ensemble, the Matheus Ensemble, the Lachrimae Consort, the Auvergne Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Lyon, Les Sauvages and the Simphonie du Marais. In 2004 he founded the Ensemble … In Ore Mel…, a phrase borrowed from a Schütz motet which means “honey to the mouth”. This alludes to the communion between Word and Music. The ensemble explores the vast repertoire of 17th and 18th century vocal and instrumental works of France and Germany.

Mr. Vernet has recorded about 75 CDs including the complete organ works of J. S. Bach, N. Bruhns, Buxtehude, L.-N. Clérambault, Couperin, J. N. Hanff, A. Kneller, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Liszt ; the complete concertos for organ and orchestra of C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach, M. Corrette and Haydn; and, a world premier organ recording of the 2,3 and 4 keyboard concertos by Bach where he is joined by Marie-Claire Alain. Many of these CDs have received distinguished awards including: the Diapason d’Or (16); the Choc du Monde de la Musique (23); and, ffff from Télérama (17). Other awards include several 10 de Répertoire, Joker from Crescendo, and Recommandé by Classica. Four of the most sought-after honors have been bestowed on Mr. Vernet by the French language musical press: Le Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque for the complete works of Buxtehude, the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, the Grand Prix de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts, and the 2000 Diapason d’Or for his complete works of Bach.

Olivier Vernet is organ professor at the Nice Conservatory and at the Academy of Music Rainier III of Monaco. He is also artistic director of the Monaco International Organ Festival, and of the Organ Festival of Mougins.