Laurent Pillot served as Associate Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera alongside Kent Nagano and Plácido Domingo, during which time he conducted Ariadne auf Naxos, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La Bohème.

Since then, he has been invited to conduct the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Lyon, New York City Opera, Teatro Regio Torino, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, Prague Radio Orchestra, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Limoges, I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Orchestre de Valencia, and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc.

Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique Rhône-Alpes Auvergne since 1986, he continues his work with the ensemble to bring symphonic repertoire to the widest possible audience.

In the same spirit, and committed to making opera accessible to all, Laurent Pillot has pursued projects using various media. He participated in the filming of Owen Wingrave by Britten and Die sieben Todsünden by Weill with Teresa Stratas, Peter Sellars, and Kent Nagano—two operas specifically produced for television. He also oversaw each new language adaptation of the BBC animated film La Petite Renarde rusée, creating versions in English, Catalan, Czech, French, and Spanish, which he regularly presents in concert, conducting the orchestra live while the film is projected on a large screen.

Particularly drawn to 19th- and early 20th-century French opera, his interpretations of Pénélope, Béatrice et Bénédict, Cendrillon, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann have been warmly received by the American press. His participation in the American premiere of the original French version of Macbeth by Bloch at the Borden Auditorium in New York was praised by The New York Times:
"Drawing vibrant and colorful playing from the orchestra, Laurent Pillot was especially good at conveying the mysteriousness that pervades this overlooked score..."

In 2018, his recording of Così fan tutte by Mozart with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, based on the musicological research of Professor Ian Woodfield and recreating Mozart’s original intentions for the first time, was also warmly received:
"The performance itself is excellent. Laurent Pillot conducts with superb energy and grace [...] Anyone who cares about Così should hear this."
(Tim Ashley – Gramophone)

Alongside his professional engagements, Laurent Pillot has always been deeply committed to training young singers and instrumentalists. His work at the Munich Opera, where he founded and directed the Opera Studio from 2006 to 2009, was the subject of a documentary broadcast on several television channels worldwide.

Artistic Advisor and Music Director of the European Opera Centre since 2003, he conducted the Centre’s young singers with the European Union Youth Orchestra for Europe Day celebrations, with a concert reprised at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Since 2021, he has also served as Head of the Voice and Choral Conducting Department at the CNSMD de Lyon.

Assistant conductor at the Opéra National de Lyon from 1991 to 1996, he conducted the orchestra in concert and in productions of L’Elisir d’amore, Cendrillon (Prokofiev), La Vie Parisienne, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, L’Amour des trois oranges, Così fan tutte…

Laurent Pillot has also served as assistant conductor at the Vienna Festival (Austria), the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and Covent Garden in London.

He has been represented by RSB Artists agency since 2012.