Laurent Ben Slimane

Born in France, Laurent Ben Slimane obtained first prize in clarinet and chamber music at the Conservatoire National de Région de Tours. At the Conservatory of the 6th arrondissement of Paris in the class of Bruno Martinez, he received first prize of the City of Paris. At the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris-CNR, he was rewarded with a unanimous first prize in the class of Richard Vieille. He later also won first prize of the City of Paris in bass clarinet in the class of Bruno Martinez.

As a teacher, Laurent Ben Slimane was assistant professor at the Conservatoire National de Région de Tours and bass clarinet professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He currently teaches bass clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He has also taught at the Academia Musicale Internationale d’Assisi in Italy and at the Ponte Cultura International Summer Academy in Corsica, and has given masterclasses in France, Spain, Norway, Poland, USA, South Korea and Italy.

In 2019, he world premiered the bass clarinet concerto Prometheus by Geoffrey Gordon with the Philharmonia and Martyn Brabbins.

He has given recitals and chamber music concerts in the UK, France, Norway and Italy and has also played with numerous orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Sinfonietta, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera, Malher Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and others.

He has played under the batons of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Santtu Matias Rouvali, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Charles Dutoit, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti, Gustavo Dudamel and Semyon Bychkov.

Laurent has held the position of Principal Bass Clarinet in the Philharmonia Orchestra since 2005 and, in 2008, was also appointed the Orchestra’s Second Clarinet.