Louis Robilliard is a French organist, born in Beirut on December 10, 1939. In 1967, he received unanimous first prizes in organ and improvisation at the Paris Conservatory.
Known for his organ transcriptions, including Gabriel Fauré’s suite from Pelléas and Mélisande and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s The Isle of the Dead, he has a particular interest in 19th-century repertoire. He is also an improviser. He came to wider attention in France in 1971, performing Franz Liszt’s complete organ works live on France Musique.
Robilliard has recorded works by Claude Ballif, Liszt, the Second Viennese School, and Charles-Marie Widor, as well as a recording of improvisations. His recording of Ballif’s Imaginary IV received the Grand Prix du Disque and the President of the Republic Prize.
In 1974, he became titular organist of the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-François-de-Sales Church in Lyon. He taught organ at the Lyon Regional Conservatory from 1967 until his retirement in October 2005, and in 2004 served temporarily in the organ class at the Lyon National Superior Conservatory of Music after the death of Jean Boyer. As a concert performer, he has played regularly at festivals, toured internationally each year, particularly in the United States, and served on international juries. He was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2015.