In Memorium: Guy Touvron (1950-2024)

ITG mourns the passing of Guy Touvron.

Guy Touvron was a prominent trumpeter player and musician of our time. After starting out on the cornet à pistons in his beautiful hometown of Vichy, France. He played in the Vichy wind band, with which he would later record with. Guy Touvron entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1967 in the class of Master Maurice André. The following year, he won first prize for cornet à pistons, then first prize for trumpet. 

Between 1971 and 1975, he won prizes at the most prestigious international competitions for our instrument, in Prague, Geneva, and Munich! In 1969, he joined the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon, then in 1972 the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Guy left three years later to embark on a career as soloist and teacher. He then travelled the world, playing with the most prestigious orchestras, and collaborating with musicians and conductors such as Yehudi Menuhin, Martha Argerich, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Serge Baudo, Sylvain Cambreling, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Emmanuel Krivine, Michel Plasson, Claudio Scimone and many others.

With over 5,000 concerts to his credit and more than 120 recordings, he has been one of the most prolific trumpeters of the last fifty years. He has also enriched the repertoire for our instrument, with over 25 works dedicated to him (Karol Beffa, Charles Chaynes, Graciane Finzi, Jacques Loussier, François Rauber, and more).

Recognized in France for his contribution to the service of culture, he was awarded the distinctions of Officier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Guy was also the first French musician to join the ITG Board of Directors between 1985 and 1989. (Source: André Bonnici)