Damien Guillon
began his musical life at the Maîtrise de Bretagne before pursuing his vocal training at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Whilst there he also studied the harpsichord and organ, and deepened his research on early music interpretations with renowned teachers such as Howard Crook, Jérôme Corréas, Alain Buet and Noëlle Barker. He completed his studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Scholl under the tutelage of Andreas Scholl.

His vocal and musical qualities have earned him regular invitations to perform with renowned conductors including William Christie, Vincent Dumestre, Emmanuelle Haïm, Bernard Labadie, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Paul McCreesh, Hervé Niquet, François-Xavier Roth, Christophe Rousset, Jordi Savall, Masaaki Suzuki and Philippe Herreweghe.

His wide ranging repertoire spans from Songs and Odes of the English Renaissance to major Italian Baroque oratorios and operas, as well as sacred German works, to which he is particularly sensitive.

He took part in several stage productions, including Athalia (Joad) by G.F Handel with the Académie Baroque Européenne of Ambronay, Teseo (Arcane) by G.F Handel at the Opera in Nice and at the Festival de Beaune, Giulio Cesare (Tolomeo) at the theatre in Caen, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (Anfinomo) by C. Monteverdi at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels and Il Sant’Alessio by Landi on a European and America-wide tour with Les Arts Florissants.

Damien Guillon performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie, under whom he also appeared with the New World Symphony in Miami and at Tokyo City Opera Hall, as well as in Kobe and Sapporo with the Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki; in France and China (Beijing and Wuhan) as part of the Banquet Céleste, and in Europe both in Barcelona and at the Château de Versailles conducted by Jordi Savall, and lastly at the Festival de Herne with Accademia Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone. He was particularly sought after in Germany: in Frankfurt with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm; in Leipzig together with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, in Dresden with the Staatskapelle Orchestra and in Amsterdam with the prestigious Concertgebouw orchestra conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.

In 2009, Damien Guillon founded Le Banquet Céleste with which he has conducted extensive work in the baroque repertoire, supported by a regular group of talented solo singers and instrumentalists.

His large discography includes – among other projects – a recording of JS Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Collegium Vocale Gand (Phi-Outhere label), conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, as well as Cantatas and Motets by JS Bach and a record of Cantatas by JS Bach with Pygmalion: “Köthener Trauermusik 244°” (Harmonia Mundi). Damien Guillon took part in the entire recording of the Cantatas by JS Bach conducted by M. Suzuki (Bis Record, vol 54) and with Le Banquet Céleste, he recorded two Solo Cantatas for Alto for Outhere; “Affetti Amorosi” devoted to the Arie Musicali by G. Frescobaldi as well as Nisi Dominus by Vivaldi and Psalm 51 by JS Bach combined in a collaboration with the Glossa label. Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo was produced in September 2018. This oratorio by A. Caldara (Alpha Classics label), was granted a CHOC award by Classica.

In addition to his singing, Damien Guillon is also a renowned conductor and was invited to direct La Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo by A.Caldara with Les Musiciens du Paradis, the Magnificat by J.S Bach with Café Zimmermann, a programme of cantatas by J.S Bach at the Festival de Saintes with the Collegium Vocale Gent upon an invitation from Philippe Herreweghe, the Requiem de Bouteiller with Hervé Niquet’s Spiritual Concert, a staged production of Acis and Galatea by Handel with Le Banquet Céleste at the Centre Lyrique d’Auvergne, at the Opera in Avignon, at the Chaise Dieu Festival, as well as concerts at the Opera in Rennes and at the Beaune Festival. In 2019, he conducted San Giovanni Battista by A. Stradella on tour with the Angers-Nantes-Opera (staged by Vincent Tavernier), in addition to a series of concerts of the St John Passion.