Patrick Gallois belongs to the generation of French musicians leading highly successful international careers as both soloist and conductor. At the age of seventeen he studied the flute with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Paris Conservatoire and became solo flutist in Lille National Orchestra. At the age of 21 he was appointed as principal flutist in the Orchestre National de France, under Lorin Maazel. He then began a seven-year career playing and recording under the direction of many well known conductors, including Pierre Boulez and Seiji Ozawa. During this period, he studied withLeonard Bernstein and Sergiu Celibidache. In 1984, he decided to focus on a solo career which has taken him throughout the world, beginning in Japan, where he toured and sold 100,000 CDs of the Mozart flute concerto in one year. This success led to an exclusive contract with Deustch Grammophon Gesellshaft for which he recorded ten records.​