Born in Paris in 1933 into a musical family, Michel Plasson first studied the piano with Lazare Lévy, then percussion and conducting at the Paris Conservatory where he received a Premier Prix. In 1962, he was awarded the first prize at Besan�on and decided to follow the advice of Charles Munch, who suggested that he go to the United States to study with Erich Leinsdorf, Pierre Monteux and Leopold Stokowski.Upon returning to France, he was appointed at Metz and, in 1968, was appointed director of both the Orchestre and the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. In 1983, because of increasing engagements outside of France, Michel Plasson gave up his post as director of the Théâtre in order to spend more time with the Orchestre du Capitole.In 1974, Michel Plasson discovered that the Halle aux Grains had excellent acoustics and immediately transformed it into a 3000-seat concert hall where the orchestra"s concert series have been given ever since. Fidelio staged by Lavelli in 1977 confirmed that the Halle aux Grains was also a wonderful place to give opera performances. Michel Plasson has since conducted such works as Salomé, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Aida, Faust, and Carmen.Plasson has also promoted French music in France and abroad, during his numerous tours with the Orchestre du Capitole, which has also been involved in commissioning many contemporary works.EMI France and Michel Plasson have created many recordings of major works of French composers, some never recorded before. Many have since received the highest distinctions worldwide. In May 1984, Michel Plasson conducted 16 performances of Aida at the Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy for an audience of nearly 200.000 spectators. Since that time, he has performed Turandot (1985), Verdi"s Requiem (1986) and Nabucco (1987) with the same success.Although Plasson has long term commitments with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, he has also regularly conducted the world"s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Opéra de Paris. Moreover, Michel Plasson is music director of the Dresden Philharmonic. His recent recordings of Gounod"s Faust and Massenet"s Don Quichotte and Herodiade, Orff"s Carmina Burana for EMI France have been hailed by the critics as some of the most brilliant achievements of recent times