Damien Quintard

Damien Quintard
Background information
Born	(1991-06-21) 21 June 1991 Paris, France
Occupation(s)	Record producer, audio engineer, composer
Years active	2012–present

Damien Quintard (born 21 June 1991) is a French designer, record producer, composer, and technology entrepreneur whose multidisciplinary work bridges music, cinema, design, and innovation known for collaborating with key figures across industries—Brad Pitt, David Fincher, Bono, Justice, Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Britney Spears, and Demna.

Quintard has built a reputation as a creative force who shapes the future of sound, space, and culture.

He co-founded with Brad Pitt “Miraval Studios” in 2021, a recording studio inside Chateau Miraval, bought by Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2009. Bringing back to life the iconic “Studio Miraval”, considered in the 70s till the late 90s as one of the most prestigious studios in the world, recording acts such as Pink Floyd (The Wall), AC/DC, Rammstein, Sting, Muse among others.

Quintard entirely redesigned Miraval Studios who is considered as a benchmark in modern recording design and one of the most influential recording studios.

He is also the Founder and CEO of SoundX ^[1] (2019) a firm focused on Research and Innovation. Their first project, Numéro Un, focuses on bringing music to the Deaf Community, with the first Artificial Intelligence made for and calibrated by institutes around the world and a patented vibration pack that translates sounds in real time.

Quintard's latest awards and recognitions comprise a Grammy Award ^[2] for his work with Justice and Tame Impala on the track “Neverender”, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing for the 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony and getting in Forbes France's list of Forbes 30 under 30.^[3]

Quintard was born in Paris. Inspired by his multicultural childhood spent across the globe in Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore, Quintard started to learn music theory and piano at the age of 3. He pursued his musical education in different conservatories and local music schools. He returned to Paris in his teenage years and started the band, Dot Legacy, that successfully toured around Europe, Brazil and Canada winning the Best International Emerging Artist award at the Canadian Indie Week in December 2018. Fascinated by science, specifically maths and physics, he studied aerospace engineering before turning to audio engineering.

From 2012 onward, Quintard built a reputation as a meticulous producer. His breakthrough came through long-term collaborations with conductor Teodor Currentzis and the orchestra MusicAeterna, producing a series of recordings that swept international awards and garnered acclaim for their emotional intensity and sonic clarity.

With his early works earning him an Emmy Award for his musical direction and original compositions for the 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony in Baku — a bold, large-scale performance created by Dimitris Papaioannou, featuring a powerful appearance by Lady Gaga performing Imagine by John Lennon.

In 2019, DAU, a project quoted to be “the most insane shoot of all time” by the Telegraph^[4] and “the most expansive, complicated, all-consuming film project ever attempted” by GQ^[5] opened its world premiere in Paris. Film director Ilya Khrzhanovsky and musical producer Vangelino Currentzis along with Damien Quintard joined their minds to create an experience blending live performances and complex sound processing during 30 days and nights. During the performances, Quintard produced collaborations between Currentzis and Brian Eno and his first collaboration with Arca.

Quintard also received in 2020 the distinction of being nominated and entering the Forbes 30 under 30 list. This list represents Forbes top pick of the 30 brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders in France.

This decade of cross-disciplinary excellence laid the foundation for his selection by Brad Pitt to lead the design and resurrection of Miraval Studios.

Miraval Studios, originally built in the late 1970s inside Château Miraval in Provence, was one of Europe's most prestigious recording studios throughout the '80s and '90s. It hosted legendary sessions by Pink Floyd (The Wall) and other artists like AC/DC, The Cure, Muse, Wham!, Sade, Sting, Steve Winwood, and the Gipsy Kings. After years of silence, Quintard partnered with Brad Pitt to completely redesign, rebuild, and relaunch the facility in 2022.

Under his leadership, Miraval Studios became a benchmark in modern recording design—a fusion of analog warmth and cutting-edge immersion.

Since its reopening, Miraval has become a magnet for top-tier artists including Justin Bieber, Sade, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Steve Lacy, Justice, Bono, Nick Cave and Laurie Anderson, as well as acclaimed film directors David Fincher and Andrew Dominik.

Brad Pitt and Damien Quintard announced the Miraval Studios Joint Venture in 2022.

Miraval Studios, widely regarded as the most beautiful and inspiring recording destination in the world was entirely redesigned and reimagined by Quintard, Miraval blends heritage and innovation, attracting the world's most celebrated artists not only for its sound but for its soul. More than a studio, it is an architectural and emotional experience.^[6]

Central to this vision is the spaceship console—a sculptural, one-piece engineering marvel designed and built by Quintard himself. It is an artwork that has gone viral multiple times for its futuristic form and functional brilliance. This bespoke creation embodies a new chapter in recording design: radically human, deeply tactile, and entirely unique.

Quintard's influence extends globally. In collaboration with Travis Scott, Rick Owens, and Michèle Lamy, he designed Tech Glade, a brutalist, mobile studio that accompanied Scott on his stadium world tour—a rare fusion of fashion, music, and architectural ambition. He also worked closely with Renzo Piano on a major cultural development, the GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow, where he conceived and implemented the site's full acoustic architecture.

In 2019, Quintard collaborated with the French Artist Philippe Parreno, Arca and Oscar winning sound designer Nicolas Becker to create a piece for MoMA’s 2019 reopening: Echo, an installation using motorized sculptures, light, video animation and hyperspatial speakers which responds to the room's sound. Parreno refers to Echo as a “sensible and sentient autopoetic automaton that perceives and reflects.” ^[7]

Damien Quintard entered the industry as a tonmeister, producing orchestras on four continents. His long-term partnership with conductor Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna yielded landmark releases:

• Tchaikovsky — Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” (Sony Classical, 2017), lauded by Gramophone and decorated with a Diapason d’Or, Edison Award, and multiple year-end prizes in Japan, celebrated for its raw emotional power and sonic depth.

• Mozart's complete “Da Ponte” operas (Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte)—praised by critics as “the most electrifying Mozart cycle ever recorded,” widely considered a modern reference in opera production.

Quintard is also the longtime producer of Bertrand Chamayou, one of today's most revered classical pianists. Together, they have released numerous acclaimed albums including Ravel: Complete Works for Solo Piano, Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos, and Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus. These projects have won Gramophone Recording of the Year, Choc de Classica, and Diapason d’Or de l’année. Critics have described their work as “technically flawless and emotionally transcendent,” and “perhaps the finest recorded interpretations of Chamayou's generation.”

These classical successes established Quintard as a reference point for natural acoustic realism, dynamic precision, and a deep emotional connection between artist and space.

Quintard has worked across experimental music, high fashion, and cinema, contributing to a wide range of creative projects with artists and institutions from diverse disciplines.

• Brian Eno x Teodor Currentzis – DAU Project (Paris, 2019): Quintard recorded electro-acoustic performances that featured both generative ambient elements and live orchestral music.
• Laurie Anderson – Amelia (2023): As co-producer and mix engineer, he helped bring to life Anderson's hallucinatory concept album inspired by Amelia Earhart, a record praised for its cinematic scope and sonic inventiveness.
• Justice & Tame Impala – Hyperdrama (2024): Quintard served as mastering engineer for the album and its lead single "Neverender," which received the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording.
• Justin Bieber - SWAG (2025): Quintard engineered "Daisies" among other tracks for Bieber's 2025 Swag album. Recorded in Miraval Studios.
• Jon Batiste – American Symphony (2024): He worked as producer and engineer for this powerful Netflix documentary, which went on to win Best Music Film at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
• Britney Spears x BFRND – Britney4ever Dual Release (2025): Quintard produced all of BFRND's work for Balenciaga, premiering in Paris and followed by a boundary-pushing remix release of Britney Spears's "Oops!... I Did It Again" and "Gimme More." This collaboration was followed by a Balenciaga x Britney Spears capsule collection for Demna's final show.
• David Fincher – The Killer (2023) & Love, Death & Robots (2025): Fincher's film was post-produced at Miraval Studios as was the surreal sonic universe for Fincher's Red Hot Chili Peppers–inspired episode.
• Bono: Stories of Surrender – Apple TV+: This production was edited and mixed at Miraval, crafting a deeply personal auditory narrative.
• Claude Zidi Jr. – Le Jour J (2025): As lead sound mixer, he supervised the music recording, mixed and mastered the score by Laurent Perez Delmar.
• Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Baku - Dimitris Papaioannou (2014): Quintard produced and mixed the live global broadcast in collaboration with Dimitris Papaioannou, culminating in Lady Gaga's performance of “Imagine”. Quintard won his first Emmy Award for this production.

In 2019, Quintard founded SoundX, a pioneering research and innovation company that developed the world's first AI system translating sound into real-time vibrations for the Deaf community. The patented technology—comprising an advanced frequency analysis AI and a wearable haptic backpack—has been adopted globally by artists like Coldplay, as well as institutions like the National Institute for Young Deaf Kids of Paris, and major cultural venues.

SoundX has received numerous accolades, including the Inclusive AI Grand Prize at the 2024 World AI Cannes Festival, the IFCIC Award from France's Ministry of Culture, and recognition as a Laureate of the France 2030 Award for innovation and inclusivity.

The system has been deployed at La Philharmonie de Paris,^[8] Théâtre du Châtelet, and for the Olympic Games,^[9] marking the first time in history the event was made accessible to the Deaf community. In the U.S., SoundX collaborates deaf community ambassador Natasha Ofili to expand sensory accessibility, and supports Coldplay in making their live concerts inclusive.

Artists like Lara Fabian are now using SoundX to promote more inclusivity in the music industry through their tours and music videos.^[10]

Through SoundX, Quintard is redefining access to sound having created a new, shared sensory language for live performance.

• 2016 - Emmy Award - Lead Sound Engineer and Producer for the Baku European Games Opening Ceremony ^[11]
• 2017 - Diapason D’Or - Producing, Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony with Teodor Currentzis ^[12]
• 2017 - BBC Magazine Music Award - Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of Mozart's Don Giovanni with Teodor Currentzis^[13]
• 2017 - Japan Academy Award Gold - Producing, Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony with Teodor Currentzis^[14]
• 2017 - Japan Academy Award Silver - Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of Mozart's Don Giovanni with Teodor Currentzis^[14]
• 2018 - Gramophone Classical Music Award - Producing, Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony with Teodor Currentzis
• 2018 - Edison Award - The most prestigious price in the Netherlands was awarded to Tchaikovsky Symphony #6 with Teodor Currentzis^[15]
• 2018 - Japan Academy Award (Best Album of the Year + Best Orchestral Work) - Mahler Symphony No. 6 with Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna^[16]
• 2020 - Diapason D’Or - Producing, Recording, Edit, Mix and Mastering of “Goodnight!” with Bertrand Chamayou ft. Bryce Dessner^[17]
• 2020 - Forbes 30 under 30 France - Top pick of the 30 brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders in France by Forbes
• 2021 - IoT Awards - Innovation Project for SoundX's Numéro UN ^[18]
• 2023 - Lauréat « Expérience augmentée du spectacle vivant » - France 2030 (SoundX) ^[19]
• 2024 – Inclusive AI Grand Prize at World AI Cannes Festival (SoundX) ^[20]
• 2024 - IFCIC Prize - Entreprendre dans la Culture - Ministère de la Culture (SoundX) ^[21]
• 2025 – Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (Justice & Tame Impala) ^[22]