Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas
studied organ, harpsichord, chamber music and conducting at the Lyon and Paris conservatories. He was taught by Louis Robilliard, Jan-Willem Jansen, Michel Bourcier, Nicolas Brochot, François Espinasse, Yves Rechsteiner, Olivier Baumont and Blandine Rannou.

He has won several international competitions: "Grand-Prix d'Orgue Jean-Louis Florentz Académie des Beaux-Arts", first prize awarded unanimously at the "Concours Gottfried Silbermann" in Freiberg (Germany), second prize at the Saint-Maurice competition (Switzerland).

In 2013 he was awarded first prize in the prestigious "Xavier Darasse" competition in Toulouse and thus became "echo-organist of the year".

Louis-Noël performs in recital throughout Europe (Paris La Madeleine, Auditorium de Radio-France, Toulouse Les Orgues, Berlin Cathedral, Alkmaar, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco Festival...).

As a soloist he has already released two CDs: "Bach and Friends" on organ and harpsichord on the Ambronay Editions label, and "Visages impressionnistes" on the LigiaDigital label, which was awarded a Choc de Classica.

He directs the ensemble Les Surprises, which specialises in the vocal and instrumental repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. Les Surprises is an 'ensemble associated with the Ambronay Editions label' (four published discs and one to be released in 2019) and 'ensemble in residence at the Pontoise Baroque Festival'. Louis-Noël performs with this ensemble in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada, Palestine...

He has also worked with conductors such as Hervé Niquet, Arie Van Beck and Roberto Forés-Veses. For his research work on the composers François Rebel and François Francœur, he was awarded the "déclics jeunes" grant by the Fondation de France.

In 2018, he will conduct the world re-creation of André Cardinal Destouches' opera Issé at the Royal Opera House in Versailles, at the Montpellier Opera House, at the Malta Opera House, as well as in various festivals (Festival de Saintes, Sinfonia en Périgord, Ambronay...)

Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas is currently finishing his residency at the Royaumont Foundation as organist on the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Abbey.

Ensemble Les Surprises
"Technical surety and daring: nothing less was needed when one claims to be a member of Rameau and his Surprises de l'amour." (Classica, June 2015).

"Among the young ensembles, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas' Surprises assert their excellence with a consistency worthy of praise. In their Delalande-Destouches Elements, they showcase ensemble quality, sound beauty and accuracy of expression." (Cadences, June 2016)

Founded by Juliette Guignard and Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas in 2010, the ensemble Les Surprises transmits, through varied and original programmes, its passion for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Borrowing its name from Jean-Philippe Rameau's opera-ballet Les Surprises de l'Amour, the ensemble Les Surprises has placed itself under the auspices of this composer, with the aim of exploring opera music in all its forms!

The work of the ensemble Les Surprises is rooted in musicological and historical research. Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas is committed to finding and promoting scores that have never been removed from the musical collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France since the end of the 18th century.

The ensemble Les Surprises also contributes to the development of the contemporary repertoire for early instruments through commissions from composers, and works to broaden the audience for baroque music.

A variable-geometry ensemble that transforms itself from a chamber ensemble to an orchestral formation, its members have been trained in the higher European conservatories and work under the direction of personalities such as Hervé Niquet, William Christie and Christophe Rousset.

In 2014, Les Surprises was awarded the "Musical Revelation" prize by the Syndicat professionnel de la critique de théâtre musique et danse, the first time this prize has been awarded to a baroque music ensemble in fifty years of awards.

The ensemble Les Surprises has recorded two discs for the Ambronay éditions label (Harmonia Mundi distribution): 'Rebel de père en fils' in 2013 and 'Les Éléments' in April 2016. Both have been highly praised by the national and international press.

Since its creation, the ensemble has performed in numerous halls and festivals throughout Europe: the Royal Chapel of Versailles, the Massy Opera, the Imperial Theatre of Compiègne, Radio France, the Semaine Musicale de Quimper, the Ambronay Festival, the Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache Festival, the Saint-Riquier Festival, the Monteverdi Festival (Cremona - Italy), the Sans Souci Festival (Potsdam - Germany), the Bozar Season (Brussels - Belgium), Monaco, Palestine, etc.

Caisse des Dépôts is the main sponsor of the ensemble Les Surprises, which also receives support from the Ministry of Culture and Communication - Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of New Aquitaine, the city of Bordeaux, the Regional Council of Aquitaine, the Departmental Council of Gironde and occasionally from ADAMI, SPEDIDAM and the CMBV. It is in residence at the Pontoise Baroque Festival and is a member of FEVIS (Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés).