Born in north of France in 1989, Lionel Speciale started his musical journey with the piano at the age of seven. Few years after came the wish to play with the local band, which had a lack of horn players.

Rapidly, he began his musical studies with both the piano and the horn at the Douai Conservatoire, where he spend seven years with professor Guy Mouy and finished his piano studies with specialization in accompaniment and sight-reading.

In 2009, Lionel Speciale entered the Paris Conservatoire with André Cazalet before continuing his master degree with Marie Luise Neunecker in the University of Music « Hanns Eisler » in Berlin.

Dale Clevenger and Stefan Dohr have also been influential during his musical journey.

During his studies, as well as playing with the French National Youth Orchestra, he took part of the academy of both Lucerne and Verbier Festival Orchestra.

After winning the position of principal horn in the Komische Oper Berlin, he has been working in the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

As guest, he is invited by major german orchestras like the Berliner Philharmoniker, both Berlin and German-Radio Symphony Orchestras, Hessischer Rundfunk, Bamberger Symphoniker,…and also abroad with Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Malaysian Symphony, among others.

Deeply passionate by chamber music, he is a founder member of the Alma Wind Quintet, which whom he won the 1. Price of the Tomasi Wind Quintet Competition and the 2. Price at the New York Young Artists Competition. He has been invited to play with the Berlin Philharmonic Horn Ensemble and teaches chamber music worldwide.

He is a member of the Berlin Counterpoint Ensemble, winner of the 2013 Usedomer Musikpreis, plays with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and is regularly invited by the “German Brass”.

Stand 2023