６歳でフルートを始め、パリ国立高等音楽院でミシェル・デボスト、アラン・マリオン、クリスチャン・ラルデ、ピエール＝イヴ・アルトーに師事、同音楽院卒業後はバーゼルのオーレル・ニコレの下で研鑽を積んだ。

1989年神戸国際フルートコンクール第１位、92年ジュネーヴ国際音楽コンクール第１位を獲得。

1993年ベルリン・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団の首席奏者に就任。

ソリストとして、これまでアバド、アントニーニ、バレンボイム、ブーレーズ、ハーディング、P.ヤルヴィ、マゼール、ネゼ＝セガンをはじめとする巨匠のもと世界の名だたるオーケストラと共演。室内楽の分野では、エリック・ル・サージュ、アレッシオ・バックス、イェフィム・ブロンフマン、エレーヌ・グリモー、スティーヴン・コヴァセヴィッチといったピアニストとリサイタルを行う。

日本ではリサイタルの他、Ｎ響、読響、大フィル、札響を含むオーケストラとの共演、室内楽公演、またマスタークラスも行っている。

録音ではワーナー・クラシックスと専属契約を結び、数多くのＣＤをリリース。

2009年フランス芸術文化勲章「シュヴァリエ」受章。英国王立音楽院名誉会員。2024年レオニー・

ソニング音楽賞を受賞。

French and Swiss flautist Emmanuel Pahud began studying music at the age of six. He graduated in 1990 with the 1er Prix from the Paris Conservatoire, and went on studying with Aurèle Nicolet. He won 1st Prize at the Duino, Kobe and Geneva Competitions, and at age 22 Emmanuel joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as Principal Flute under Claudio Abbado, a position which he still holds today. In addition, he enjoys an extensive international career as soloist and chamber musician. Emmanuel appears regularly at prominent concert series, festivals and orchestras worldwide, and has collaborated as a soloist with leading conductors such as Abbado, Antonini, Barenboim, Boulez, Fischer, Gergiev, Gardiner, Harding, Järvi, Maazel, Nézét-Séguin, Orozco-Estrada, Perlman, Pinnock, Rattle, Rostropovich, Zinman. Emmanuel is a dedicated chamber musician and regularly gives recitals with pianists Eric Le Sage, Alessio Bax, Yefim Bronfman, Hélène Grimaud, Stephen Kovacevich, as well as jazzing with Jacky Terrasson. In 1993, Emmanuel founded the Summer Music Festival in Salon de Provence together with Eric Le Sage and Paul Meyer, which is still a unique chamber music festival today. He also continues chamber music performances and recordings with “Les Vents Français”, one of the premiere wind quintets featuring François Leleux, Paul Meyer, Gilbert Audin and Radovan Vlatkovic. He is committed to expanding the flute repertoire and commissions new flute works every year to composers such as Elliott Carter, Marc-André Dalbavie, Thierry Escaich, Toshio Hosokawa, Michaël Jarrell, Philippe Manoury, Matthias Pintscher, Christian Rivet, Eric Montalbetti and Luca Francesconi. Since 1996, Emmanuel has recorded 40 albums exclusively for EMI / Warner Classics, which all have received unanimous critical acclaim and awards, resulting in one of the most significant contributions to recorded flute music. Emmanuel was honoured to receive the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contribution to music, and is HonRAM of the Royal Academy of Music. He also is an Ambassador for Unicef.