Grovlez toured Europe as an accompanist to Henri Marteau, violinist, and as a solo pianist.[citation needed] He was professor of piano at the Schola Cantorum from 1899 to 1909, choir director and deputy[citation needed] conductor of the Opéra Comique (1905–1908), and musical director at the Théâtre des Arts (1911–1913). At the Théâtre des Arts, he gave the premieres of Albert Roussel's Le Festin de l'araignée and Maurice Ravel's Ma mère l'oye, and also revived many operas, particularly from the baroque era, including works by Monteverdi, Lully, Rameau and Gluck.
From 1914 to 1933, he was the director of the Opéra de Paris ("Societé Nationale de l'Opéra"), where among other productions, he conducted a season of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He had an international career as a guest conductor, and worked at opera houses in Monte Carlo, Cairo, Lisbon, New York and Chicago. From 1939, he was a professor of chamber music at the Conservatoire.
During his tenure at the Opéra de Paris, Grovlez edited collections of arias from early French opera, which were influential in England. He also wrote reviews for Paris music journals including Excelsior (1916–17) and L'Art musical (1937–39).
