Actor, director and teacher, Clément Hervieu-Léger devotes this masterclass to the art of interpretation, at the crossroads of theatrical performance and lyric singing. An encounter where words, gestures and music come together around the young artists of the Academy of Opéra-Comique.
Cast
Clément Hervieu-Léger, with the artists of the Academy of Opéra-Comique • Mathieu Pordoy, director of musical studies
Detailed cast of the 2026-2027 Academy class to come
Clément Hervieu-Léger © Sébastien Dolidon
Biography
Clément Hervieu-Léger
Actor, director and teacher, Clément Hervieu-Léger has been General Administrator of the Comédie-Française since August 2025. He joined the Comédie-Française in 2005 as a pensionnaire and became its 533rd sociétaire in 2018. Trained at the Conservatoire of the 10th arrondissement of Paris in Jean-Louis Bihoreau's class, he notably played Robespierre in Büchner's The Death of Danton, Dorante in Molière's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Günther von Essenbeck in The Damned directed by Ivo van Hove.
A close collaborator of Patrice Chéreau for ten years, he assisted him on stagings of Così fan tutte at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Opéra national de Paris, as well as Tristan und Isolde at La Scala in Milan. He also wrote the dramaturgy for Rameau's Platée in Mariame Clément's staging at the Opéra du Rhin. In 2010 he founded the Compagnie des Petits Champs, which performs on major national stages and in rural venues committed to broadening access to theatre.
As a director, he has staged Molière's La Critique de l'École des femmes and The Misanthrope, Marivaux's Le Petit-Maître corrigé, Wedekind's Spring Awakening and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. A committed teacher, he teaches drama at the Paris Opera Ballet School and has chaired the Société d'Histoire du Théâtre since 2021.
Program
An encounter dedicated to bringing song to life and to the art of the text, exploring excerpts from the French lyric repertoire worked through with the artists of the Academy.
Detailed program to come
The Academy of Opéra-Comique
A major player in lyric creation for more than three centuries, in 2023 Opéra-Comique opened an Academy dedicated to new generations of performers.
Its mission is to promote the opéra-comique genre and its specific art of interpretation, performed as close as possible to the texts and to stage action. It aspires to be a centre of artistic excellence around French singing and the art of spoken-sung performance. The Academy also aims to identify and support young French-speaking artists by encouraging them to develop fresh perspectives on lyric art and its vitality.
The disciplines of dramaturgy and costume design are also called to join this project.