Combining sensibility, elegance of singing, diction and malice mixed with a strong stage presence, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt has gained an international reputation by his portraits of Platté de Rameau and Arnalta (l’Incoronazione di Poppea) of Monteverdi, then those of these so-called “character” roles such as Offenbach’s Four Valets (Offenbach’s Tales), Chabrier’s Phew (The Star), Ravel’s Child and Spells and Torquemada (The Spanish Hour)

Yet it is with the classical saxophone and conducting that his music life begins before the singer Cathy Berberian encourages him to work on his voice.

In 1986, he discovered the world of early music with William Christie in the ensemble Les Arts Florissants and participated in the now historic recreation of the Opera Atys de Lully at the Opéra-Comique in Paris and at the craze for French Baroque music. With Marc Minkowski, he recorded the title roles of Hippolyte et Aricie by Rameau, Titon and Aurore by Mondonville and Acis and Galatée by Lully and Hervé Niquet with numerous religious plays. He made his debut in 1993 at the Amsterdam Opera in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Christophe Rousset.

In 1996, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt was hired to sing the roles of Poulenc’s Mamelles de Tirésias “Husband” directed by Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival which marked his international debut, now accessing to the main stages, Covent Garden of London, Metropolitan Opera , City Opera – New York, Teatro alla Scala, Opera Bastille … as well as in the festivals of Aix en Provence, Salzburg, Proms … He is the guest of the great orchestral formations, Boston Symphonic, National of France, Vienna Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and prestigious conductors including Charles Dutoit, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Yannick Nézet- Seguin, James Levine, Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle …

Jean-Paul Fouchécourt defends French air art from court to romance and French melody giving recitals in New York at Florence Gould Hall with Dalton Baldwin, at Carnegie Hall with Steven Stubs and Ryan Brown, at Wigmore Hall in London with Graham Johnson … He has joined pianists Jeff Cohen, Christian Ivaldi, Jean-Marc Luisada, Suzanne Manoff, Roger Muraro, Alain Planès, Alexandre Tharaud and Jean- Claude Pennetier at numerous concerts in France. In 2015, he created a menu show: Pleasures with the pianist Jamal Moquadem and the director Jean Lacornerie at the Théâtre de la Croix Rousse in Lyon and on tour in France as well as in New York and Washington.

More than a hundred recordings reflects the broad repertoire of Jean-Paul Fouchécourt. He is now passing on his experience to the younger generation and has been directing the destinies of the Studio de l’Opéra de Lyon (SOL) since 2011. He is a Knight in the National Order of Merit.