Yvan Cassar

The French musician Yvan Cassar works as a conductor, pianist, composer and arranger. He initially studied in his home city of Rennes and in Nantes, before continuing his training at the Paris Conservatoire.

He has worked as a musical director for prestigious international events, including the opening ceremony of the 1997 World Championships in Athletics, a concert with Jean-Michel Jarre at the Pyramids of Giza and several shows with artists such as Mylène Farmer and Johnny Hallyday.

Since his first meeting with the conductor Michel Plasson in 2000 he has worked regularly with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

In 2005 he conducted performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana and his own composition À l’encre de Chine at the Palais des Congrès de Paris and at the Shanghai Opera House.

He has had a longstanding working relationship with the tenor Robert Alagna, with whom he has appeared on several international tours and recorded five albums, including Caruso 1873 with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. His other albums include Johnny Hallyday Symphonique and Nougaro: Sur l’écran noir de mes nuits blanches with Natalie Dessay. He also created the arrangements for two albums by the violinist Nemanja Radulović.

Yvan Cassar has appeared several times as a musical director on French television, including in the Pavarotti homage Les Concerts des étoiles and the broadcast Roberto Alagna chante à Versailles.

Artists with whom he has worked include Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Aleksandra Kurzak, Ludovic Tézier, Karine Deshayes, Patricia Petibon, Olga Peretyatko, Philippe Jaroussky, Joseph Calleja, Charles Castronovo, Michael Spyres, Pretty Yende, Sabine Devieilhe, Julie Fuchs, Marianne Crebassa, Jessica Pratt, Julien Behr, Florian Sempey, Enea Scala, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Marina Rebeka and Ekaterina Semenchuk.

In 2017 he presented his reinterpretation of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for orchestra and vocal soloists at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

In 2019 he conducted the first edition of the series L’Olympia Symphonique at the Festival de Paris. For several years he has also conducted themed concerts at the Un Violon sur le Sable Festival, featuring his own musical arrangements.

In November 2025 he conducted the gala concert Bonsoir Monte-Carlo at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, for which he also created the arrangements, and which both celebrated the National Day of Monaco and commemorated the 50th anniversary of the death of Josephine Baker.