Michel Portal, the French composer, saxophonist and clarinetist, died on February 12, 2026, at the age of 90.
Born in Bayonne on November 27, 1935, he studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris and conducting with Pierre Dervaux. Portal worked in both jazz and classical music and was considered one of the architects of modern European jazz.
He co-founded the free improvisation group New Phonic Art and, in 1969, played on a recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Aus den sieben Tagen.
Michel Portal (27 November 1935 – 12 February 2026) was a French composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He played both jazz and classical music and is considered to be “one of the architects of modern European jazz”.