François Ménissier teaches organ at the Rouen Conservatory of Music and is titular organist of the Clicquot great organ of the Church of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs in Paris.
He studied organ with Françoise Billiot, Bernard Lagacé, Norbert Pétry, André Stricker and Louis Thiry, and the harpsichord with Martha Cook and Aline Zylberajch. He also took part in master classes with Michel Chapuis, André Isoir and Harald Vogel. He was laureate in 1981 of the J.S. Bach International competition of Toulouse and titular organist from 1989 to 2003 of the great Silbermann organ of Saint-Thomas Church in Strasbourg. He lives in Normandy since 2000 where he is currently the organ adviser to the city of Rouen, organist in charge of the Renaissance organ of Mont-Saint-Aignan and organist at Saint-Éloi Church in Rouen.
François Ménissier has performed in France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Luxembourg, Finland and Japan, both as a soloist and with musicians or ensembles, including Jacques Bona (bass voice), Volny Hostiou (serpent), Luc Marchal (baroque oboe), Françoise Masset (soprano), Guy Messler (trumpet), Thibaud Robinne (baroque trumpet), Psalette de Lorraine, Maîtrise de Haute-Bretagne, A Sei Voci, Ensemble Gilles Binchois and Dominique Vellard, Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Les Meslanges and Thomas Van Essen.
His passion for historic organs has led him to complete his musical activity with a lively interest in the restoration and conservation of period instruments, and in the history of organ building. Author of research on the Verschneider line of eighteenth and nineteenth century organ builders, and the historical and technical inventory of the organs of Moselle (1988-1999), François Ménissier is a member of the higher historical organ commission (Commission nationale du patrimoine et de l’architecture) of the French Ministry of Culture since 1998. He has presided the Association Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (Paris) from 2017 to 2021.
Discography: Bach, Boëly, Brahms (Diapason d’Or 2004), Mendelssohn, Rheinberger, Titelouze (Tempéraments/Radio-France, Hortus, Wergo/Schott, K.617, Adda, Paraty, Psalmus). Radio recordings for Radio France / France Musique (F), Südwestrundfunk (D), K.-Radio-Omroep Hilversum (NL), RTBF (B), Finnish National Radio (Helsinki).