Jean-Luc Hervé was born in France in 1960. He studied orchestration and electroacoustics at the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt and composition with Emmanuel Nunes and Gérard Grisey at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, graduating with highest honors. He completed his training with IRCAM’s Cursus in 1996, returning to IRCAM as a research resident in 2001 for computer-assisted composition. He was a composer in residence at the Fondation des Treilles in 1997, at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto in 2001, and with DAAD in Berlin in 2003.

His encounter with Gérard Grisey marked a turning point in his path as a composer. His doctoral thesis, on esthetics, as well as his research at IRCAM both provided opportunities for theoretical reflection on his work as a composer. His time as a resident of the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto sent shock waves through his esthetic approach and marked a second turning point in his creative work.

His music is performed by ensembles such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Court-Circuit, Contrechamps, musikFabrik, KNM Berlin, Divertimento, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestra della Toscana, and the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester.

He won the second prize of the sixth Goffredo Petrassi Composition Competition for Ciels in 1997; his two monographic albums received the Coup de Cœur Prize from the Académie Charles Cros.

Jean-Luc Hervé teaches composition at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt and gives classes and seminars at the Abbaye de Royaumont, the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), IRCAM, Reggio Emilia (Italy), and the Institut Français of Bilbao (Spain). In 2004 he, Thierry Blondeau, and Oliver Schneller founded the Biotop(e) Initiative.

In 2022, the premiere of Topos closed two years of artistic residency at LUX scène nationale, with a concert for 8 musicians of Ensemble l’Itinéraire and a fearful device - already present in his piece BIOTOPE in 2019.

Some of his recent work has been concert-installations designed for unique sites, notably open-air spaces such as gardens, including the Kyoto Gardens, the Jardin de la Treille, and the Parc de la Villette in 2020.