Jean-Pierre Dassonville

Born in Soignies, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dassonville began his musical studies under the guidance of his father, finishing at the Mons and Liège Royal Conservatories with Nico De Marchi. He continued his studies with Francis Orval and Claude Maury. 

He was soon engaged in various orchestras, successively with the Belgian military band, the national radio (RTBF) orchestra, the Flemish Opera and currently as first horn in the Royal Monnaie Opera orchestra in Brussels. 

He is also intensely involved with the valveless baroque natural horn, on which he is now a frequently-heard performer. He has played first horn with Les Agrémens, ex Tempore, Il Gardellino, les Muffati, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, BachPlus, The New Baroque Times, l’Orchestre des Champs Elysées and the Collegium Vocale under Philippe Herreweghe and the Anima Eterna Orchestra.

In chamber music, both on modern and early instruments, he performs in the international chamber music festivals of Stavelot and "Resonances" at the Château d'Halloy, with the ensembles of the Monnaie (with Antonio Pappano among others), Oxalys, Kheops,Quartz, Odéon, Solstice, Mengal, il Gardellino, the Wolf collective, the Concert Bourgeois, the Danel Quartet, and in duo with pianoforte-player Guy Van Waas and the Agrémens wind quintet. 

Many sound and video recordings have resulted from these collaborations. 

Ses activités de soliste l’ont amené à se produire avec l’Orchestre de la Monnaie sous la direction de Kasushi Ono, Alain Altinoglu, l’Ensemble Orchestral de Bruxelles, l’Orchestre Lyrique de Région Avignon Provence et L’Orchestre Bruocella, Brussels Philharmonic. Belgian Brass.
Au festival de cor de Vire, il créé le concerto de Roland Schoelinck, œuvre dans laquelle il a participé à l’écriture et dont il est le dédicataire. Il est invité régulièrement aux festivals de cor de Vire, d’Avignon, de Montréal et d’Annecy, à Liverpool par la British Horn Society, aux symposiums de L’international Horn Society à Londres en 2014, à Gand en 2019.
Il donne des master classes, notamment au festival Epsilon de Saint-Yrieix La Perche, en Anjou dans le cadre de l’ARAM , aux festivals de Vire et d’Avignon, au pôle supérieur de Dijon et Lille, au Conservatoire de Montréal , à l’université de Montréal, à l’université de Seoul, au séminaire de musique ancienne de Namur, à l’académie internationale de Dinant, à l’académie d’été de Saint Vaast, à différents congrès de l’association française du cor, à Birmingham et Manchester invité par la British Horn Society , aux symposiums de l’IHS où il enseigne à la fois le cor moderne et le cor naturel. Il est également invité comme formateur au Jeune Orchestre Atlantique à Saintes.

The International Horn Society has recognized Jean-Pierre Dassonville as one of the great representatives of the ‘European’ horn style. Under its auspices he played in London in August 2014 (IHS 46) and in Ghent in July 2019, during annual symposiums including recitals on a six-piston instrument by Adolphe Sax. 

In August 2020 he was invited as a Featured Artist to the 52nd Annual International Horn Symposium in the United States. He was invited in Montreal in July 2023 for the 55th IHS Symposium.

This season he will play solo horn in B. Britten’s Serenade with the Monnaie orchestra under Alain Altinoglu in Brussels and Colmar.

Since 2006, he has taught at Belgian conservatories and now teaches horn and natural horn at the Brussels Royal Conservatory.

Il est également lauréat du concours international de cor des Alpes – une autre de ses passions – de Nendaz en Suisse.

All these activities have taken Jean-Pierre Dassonville to various parts of Europe, as well as to Japan, Canada, China, Korea, Singapore and the United States.