Gabriel Michaud – ARD INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION

2026: 1st prize

Percussion

Gabriel Michaud was born in France in 2003. He began playing the drums at a music school at the age of seven before transferring to the Nantes Conservatory at age 11. In 2020, he received his diploma in percussion and jazz vibraphone. From 2020 to 2023, he studied percussion at the Haute école de musique de Genève, where he expanded his knowledge of contemporary and orchestral percussion as well as drum set, tabla, and composition, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree with highest honors. That same year, Michaud began his master’s degree in percussion at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, which he also completed with highest honors in 2025.

Michaud is a multiple prize winner at international percussion and marimba competitions. In 2022, he received First Prize, the Audience Prize, and the Press Prize at the TROMP International Percussion Competition and, with his trio Fragments, won a tie for Second Prize at the Luxembourg International Percussion Competition. In 2025, he won first prize at the 8th World Marimba Competition in Hangzhou, as well as first prize and the prize for the best performance of a Chinese work at the 8th IPEA International Percussion Competition.

Michaud performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist at venues such as the Shanghai Opera House, the Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, and Victoria Hall, as well as at festivals including Le Vent sur l’Arbre, the Salon Festival international de musique de chambre de Provence, and La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo, and Warsaw. In 2024, he made his debut as a soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the baton of Jonathan Nott. He also performs regularly with Valentine Michaud and the NIMM Quartet.

Michaud is also active as a composer: he writes for chamber music ensembles and produces electronic music as part of the rap collective “Codex Dissident.” Since 2023, he has been collaborating with the German brand Kolberg Percussion as one of its official artists.

At the 75th ARD International Music Competition, Gabriel Michaud won first prize in the percussion category.