After receiving his musical training in piano, composition and conducting at the Geneva Conservatory, he studied under many renowned conductors, including Herbert von Karajan, who regularly invited him to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, Igor Markevitch's assistant at the Orchestre Sinfonica de Radio España, and Boulez, who he spent four years as assistant to.
He actively performs premieres of contemporary music, and has worked on many works by Stockhausen, Berio, Ligeti, Messiaen, etc. He is particularly highly trusted as an excellent interpreter by Xenakis.
He has served as Music Director Music Director of the Orchestre Gulbenkian, the Orchestre Philharmonique National de Lorraine, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and was Chief Music Director and currently Honorary Conductor of the Nord-Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Hamburg, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the La Fenice Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the RAI Symphony Orchestra of Turin, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, appearing at renowned music festivals such as Lucerne and Salzburg.
He has served as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008, becoming its Honorary Conductor in 2015. He appears at the Cité de la Musique in Paris for three performances each season and has toured to Berlin, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Salzburg, and other places.
Furthermore, in the field of opera, he has appeared in opera houses around the world, including Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Rome, Montreal, Genoa and the Bolshoi, and is a regular guest with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, where he has conducted productions such as Lohengrin, Madame Butterfly, Carmen and The Prodigal's Journey.
His work as a composer has also been highly successful, with his works "Prélude à la légende" premiering at the Besançon Festival and "Le livre de Job" premiering at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, and his Violin Concerto performed with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019, his Cello Concerto was premiered by Gautier Capuçon. In 2016, he composed the opera "Benjamin – Last Night," commissioned by the Opéra de Lyon and set to a libretto by Régis Debré.
He is also a prolific writer, having published two books: "Music Above All Else" (2008), "The Savage" (2013), and "Ma Rhapsodie" (2016), which chronicles the connection between his life and music.
He also conducts international youth orchestras for young musicians. He served as artistic director of the Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec from 1985 to 1989, and for 12 years as artistic director of the Mediterranean Orchestra des Jeunes Méditerranée, founded in 1984. He has also given masterclasses at Hilversum, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, and conservatories in Paris, Brussels, and Stockholm. He was professor at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto from 1984 to 1991, and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1993 to 2001.
He has released CDs on Erato and Relinx, covering a wide range of repertoire, from Beethoven to Honegger, Wagner to Xenakis. His recording of Schumann's Piano Concerto with pianist Catherine Collard was acclaimed and recognized as one of the best performances by Radio Suisse Romande. He has also recorded numerous works with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, including Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" and "The Nightingale," both released on the orchestra's label, which won a Gramophone Award in 2013. His recordings of Debussy's "La Mer," "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," and "Nocturnes" and Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9 from the New World," and "Slavonic Dances, Book 1" were ranked top by Classica and Radio France.