Jacques Rouvier was born in Marseilles into a family of musicians. He attended the CNSMD in Paris (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse), where he was taught by Vlado Perlemuter, Pierre Sancan, and Jean Hubeau. He won first prizes in both piano and chamber music.

Rouvier then decided to broaden his knowledge about wind section and leading orchestra at the CNSMD too. He owes much to Pierre Barbizet and Jean Fassina. Rouvier won several competitions such as the “Giovan Battista Viotti” International Music Competition, Maria Canal International Music Competition, the European Broadcasting Union Competition, the Long-Thibaud Competition, and the Competition of the Fondation de la Vocation. In 1970, he founded the Rouvier-Kantorow-Muller trio, with whom he still performs regularly.

He took part in many festivals and academies (Prades, Spoleto, Kuhmo, Aix-en-Provence, Hamamatsu) and gave masterclasses all over the world. He was awarded Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel, as well as the sonatas of Ravel and Debussy with J.J. Kantorow. Rouvier also recorded the whole work of Debussy and some thirty other CDs.

He was invited to be a jury member for international and prestigious competitions, like the Tchaïkovsky, Leeds, Santander, Rubinstein, and Marguerite Long Competition. Since 1979, he has taught at the CNSMD in Paris and at the Berlin University of the Arts.