Born in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (Haute-Savoie) in 2005, Simon Lopez learned to play the clarinet at the age of seven after listening to the introductory disc Piccolo Saxo et Compagnie. After lessons with his teacher Nathalie Crouzet, he entered Gérard Schlotz's class at the Geneva Conservatory at the age of 14, in parallel with his school studies. When he was 16, he auditioned for the Prodiges program, which had chosen clarinettist Marin Chapoutot five years earlier. On December 30, 2021, Simon Lopez won the 8th edition of the show with his interpretation of Göran Fröst's Klezmer Dance and an adaptation of the Queen of the Night's aria from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. In his final year of high school, the clarinettist records his first recital for Warner Classics, featuring pieces by Mozart, Bizet, Piazzolla and Donizetti, as well as three complete works: Schumann's Fantasiestücke, op. 73, Gershwin's Three Preludes for Clarinet and Piano and C. M von Weber's Concertino in E flat major, op. 26. For this recording, he is joined by pianist Guillaume Vincent, guitarist Paolo Besson, accordionist Maria Atanasoaei and conductor Jean-François Verdier of the Orchestre Victor-Hugo Franche-Comté. On its release in 2022, the opus reached No. 43 in the classical music charts in France.
