From 1992, after studying at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris and winning second prize at the 1988 Besançon International Competition, he went on to collaborate closely with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble intercontemporain, where he also worked extensively with David Robertson.

Pascal Rophé is committed to the operatic repertoire which he considers, like contemporary music, should be as accessible to audiences as the more mainstream ‘classical’ repertoire. He devotes himself, on average, to two operatic productions per season (Pélléas et Mélisande with Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Thaïs for Opera di Roma, both Der fliegende Holländer and Dialogue des Carmélites at the Budapest Spring Festival). Among the contemporary operas he has championed are Michael Jarrell’s Galilée for Geneva’s Grand Théâtre, Ahmed Essyad’s Héloïse et Abélard for the Châtelet, Michèle Reverdy’s Medée for Opéra de Lyon, and most recently, Bruno Mantovani’s L'Autre Côté for the Cité de la Musique. April 2011 saw the première of Akhmatova, the latest opera by Bruno Mantovani, at the Opera National de Paris.

In France and abroad, Pascal Rophé has worked with many major orchestras including the orchestras of Radio France, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, RTE National Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Ensemble intercontemporain, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, RAI Torino, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Pascal also served for three years as Music Director of Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège-Bruxelles until June 2009.

Pascal Rophé has an extensive discography and his CDs have received numerous awards: he received his first ‘Choc de la Musique’ with his recording of Eric Tanguy’s Intrada with Orchestre National de France, and his CD of works by Thierry Escaich with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège received another ‘Choc de la Musique,’ a ‘10’ from Répertoire magazine, and the 'Diapason d’Or' from Diapason Magazine for the best contemporary music CD. His most recent CDs include two featuring the music of Ivan Fedele and Luigi Dallapiccola with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, one disc with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande dedicated to the work of Michael Jarrell which won the ‘Grand Prix’ de l’Académie du Disque Charles Cros, and one CD of Saint-Saëns and Dutilleux with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, winning another ‘Choc du Monde de la Musique’.

In 2009, the Naïve label released, to great acclaim, the first recording of Pascal Dusapin’s Seven Solos for orchestra with Pascal Rophé conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège. His latest CD is the Concerto for Two Violas and Orchestra by Bruno Mantovani, with Tabea Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit and the Orchestre Royal Philharmonique de Liège-Bruxelles.