MARK OPSTAD
Artistic Director
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Mark Opstad is an Anglo-French choral conductor, founder and director of the Maîtrise de Toulouse. He has built up the choir over the last twenty years, establishing it as one of the leading choir school model choirs in Europe, awarded the Bettencourt Prize for Choral Music by the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 2026 he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.
Mark consecrates most of his time to the Maîtrise today. Initially he trained as an organist and gave organ recitals in seven European countries. He continues to work as a pianist accompanist (including for the English Choral Experience). He is a composer and arranger of choral music (published by Anima Nostra editions).
Mark began his musical training as a chorister, and Head Chorister at Bristol Cathedral and Music Scholar at Bristol Cathedral School. He studied Music at Oxford University where he was Organ Scholar of Balliol College, organising the choir’s first foreign tour to France, including singing at Notre Dame, Paris. He was also a cellist in the Oxford Sinfonietta. On leaving Oxford Mark was recipient of a Coolidge Award, allowing him to travel the United States for two months. He continued his studies at Cambridge University where he accompanied the choir of Clare College as assistant organist. Mark studied the organ with David Sanger and the piano with Raymond Fischer.
On leaving Cambridge Mark was awarded an Entente Cordiale Scholarship from the British and French governments allowing him to continue his musical studies in France. He studied the organ with Lynne Davis at the Caen Conservatoire (Médaille d’Or). It was in Caen that Mark first became involved with the revival of French choir schools as assistant to the director of the Maîtrise de Caen for two years, training of the choristers and accompanying the choir’s weekly concerts.
In 2003, Mark was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de Toulouse with the mission of creating a Maîtrise for Toulouse. The Maîtrise gives around ten concerts per year, mainly in Toulouse, notably at the Auditorium Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines, Basilique Saint-Sernin, Temple du Salin, and Halle aux Grains, and also participates in numerous regional festivals. It performs throughout France in prestigious venues (Chapelle Royale de Versailles, Opéra-Comique in Paris) and abroad (Spain, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom).
Through its recordings, the choir has gained international recognition. Its eight albums cover repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary works, both sacred and secular, sung in more than twenty languages. They have received unanimous acclaim from the international music press: the Clef ResMusica and 5 Diapasons (twice), a “coup de cœur” from France Musique, “Essential Releases” from the Sunday Times, 5 stars in Choir & Organ Magazine, 4 stars in BBC Music Magazine, and the American Record Guide’s Critic’s Choice of the year, which noted: “There’s probably nothing this choir couldn’t sing, and spectacularly well. ” The Maîtrise’s album with Ensemble Gilles Binchois received a Diapason Découverte as well as the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (Early Music category). Numerous videos available on the Maîtrise’s YouTube channel also contribute to its international reputation: www.youtube.com/@maitrisedetoulouse
The Maîtrise’s repertoire is extremely rich and varied: sacred and secular music from all periods by more than 250 composers, contemporary works, world premieres, and regular commissions (Paweł Łukaszewski, Emmanuelle Da Costa, Patrick Burgan, Édith Canat de Chizy…). Special attention is given to French repertoire, including rediscovering forgotten works, new arrangements of traditional songs, and commissioning new compositions.
Mark Opstad also conducts the Maîtrise in collaborations with other renowned ensembles, including the Orchestre National du Capitole (Britten), the Baroque Orchestra Les Passions (Bach’s St John Passion), and Les Saqueboutiers (Spanish and English Renaissance music).
He is convinced that the choir’s success is based on several core values. Transmission between older and younger choristers is at the heart of the project. Teamwork and the pursuit of excellence are combined in a warm and nurturing environment, open to pupils from all backgrounds.