He performed as a soloist, under the direction of prestigious conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, John Eliot Gardiner, and undertook conducting activities in France and abroad.
Bourgue was called in 1967 by Charles Munch at the Orchestre de Paris, where he remained solo oboe until 1979.
He won first prizes in the following international competitions: Geneva (1963), Birmingham (1965), Munich (1967), Prague Spring International Music Festival (1968), Budapest (1970).
He won a First Prize for oboe in 1958 and a First Prize for chamber music in 1959.