Philippe Bender

From 1960 to 1968, he pursued a career as a soloist which took him to Switzerland, Germany, Austria before joining the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra where he met Paul Paray.

With the Orchestre régional de Cannes-Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Bender went to Japan, Morocco[4] in the United States, Germany, Austria, Brazil and China for major tours that have taken him to New York, Washington, Tokyo, Osaka, São Paulo, Berlin and Vienna, Shanghai and Beijing.

[6] On the following 29 September, he conducted the Orcpaca, for a farewell concert[7] at the Théâtre Debussy of the Palais des Festivals de Cannes, where he invited prestigious soloists who had already played for a long time under his baton: violinist Olivier Charlier, performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and clarinetist Michel Lethiec in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

[8] Bender also fulfils an important social mission, leading the orchestra, or smaller groups, in giving concerts for children in hospitals, the elderly or the disabled[9] in disadvantaged neighbourhoods[10] and even in prisons.

He regularly participates in activities in support of the Restos du Cœur by comedian and actor Coluche, giving concerts whose proceeds are entirely donated to the association.