The driving force behind this project, saxophonist Matthieu Delage, is a musician whose curiosity knows no bounds. Trained at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), he has successfully blended the classical excellence of the baritone saxophone—notably as a member of the Morphing Quartet—with an intensive practice of improvisation, jazz, and even Indian music. His artistic approach aims, above all, to break traditional codes to make Bach’s music more organic and accessible.

Alongside him, violist Violaine Despeyroux brings an exceptional depth of tone. A laureate of prestigious international competitions and a former resident of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, she is particularly renowned for her mastery of Bach’s repertoire, having notably received a special prize for her interpretation of the composer’s work. She elegantly bridges the rigor of the great classical stages with the boldness of this contemporary reimagining.

The ensemble’s sonic universe is further enriched by the guitar of Benjamin Garson. A multifaceted musician, he is simultaneously a classical guitarist, a jazz improviser, and a sound engineer. This dual expertise allows him to explore unprecedented sound textures and infuse baroque structures with a modern, almost rock or progressive edge, transforming the guitar into a true laboratory of timbres.

Finally, Baptiste Dolt provides the rhythmic foundation for this metamorphosis. Coming from the Jazz Department of the Paris Conservatoire, he breathes a vibrant pulse and the freedom of improvised music into the project. His drumming does more than just support the ensemble; it dialogues with Bach’s melodies, subverting and reinventing them to create a bridge between 18th-century composition and today’s groove.

Together, they transform Bach’s works into a playground where historical precision meets the energy of the moment. 

It was in 2010 that Audrey Lonca-Alberto and Paolo Rigutto decided to perform as a duo for two pianos and four hands. Both soloists in their own right, they are committed to allowing each individual’s identity to express itself within their duo. Thus, their two personalities enrich their four-hand playing through intensive chamber music work and research, combining complicity and musical understanding in service of each work they approach. A beautiful synergy that has led them to perform at numerous festivals in France and abroad. Their concerts have led them early on to explore very diverse works from the repertoire for this formation. They can be heard in a wide selection of composers covering all periods, from Mozart to Piazzolla, including Schubert and Grieg.

COLLABORATIONS

In 2017 they created a musical show around The Nutcracker. They adapted the children’s tale into a stage version for an actor and piano, based on the transcription of Tchaikovsky’s ballet for four hands. A brand new project came to life in 2021, in collaboration with hypnotherapist Benjamin Lubszynsky. A hypnosis session centered on Chopin’s nocturnes was created and numerous projects are underway.

PROJECTS

Today their duo concerts are taking new directions. Both deeply attached to the repertoire for this formation, they have enthusiastically approached a whole section of the great works of this piano literature that still inspires them today. Four-hand piano is a formation that offers wonderful possibilities in terms of repertoire, and it is with great enthusiasm that they now explore it through orchestral score transcriptions. They have thus been able to perform in concert symphonic works by Debussy, Mussorgsky, and will approach Liszt’s symphonic poems this summer.

AUDREY LONCA-ALBERTO

Audrey Lonca-Alberto has been performing on stage since her earliest years. Coming from a family of musicians, the piano became an obvious choice for her. She began her artistic education in Dordogne, then obtained her Diploma of Musical Studies at the CRR of Limoges, followed by an Advanced Prize.

PAOLO RIGUTTO

Concert pianist, Paolo Rigutto performs in France and around the world, as a soloist or in chamber music.

Born in 1979 in the Bordeaux region, Julien-David Petit began his musical training at the age of six with the clarinet. He continued his studies at the CNR of Bordeaux with Jacques Net, then at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris in the classes of Claude Delangle, Nicolas Angelich, Jean Mouillère and Marie-Françoise Bucquet, where he obtained his First Prizes in saxophone and chamber music. Winner of the most prestigious International Competitions for saxophone, including 2nd Prize at the Adolphe Sax International Competition in Dinant (Belgium), 3rd Prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich, and prize-winner at the International Competitions of Bayreuth, Limoges, Gap…, he has been invited to perform in concerts and festivals in numerous countries throughout Europe, Canada, the USA, Asia, Russia, and has performed as a soloist with the National Orchestra of Bogota, the Hofer Symphoniker at the Bayreuth Opera, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Belgian Royal Air Force Band, the Republican Guard Orchestra, the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Orchestra…

Several musical programs have been dedicated to him, notably on Radio France, Radio Classique, RTL, France Inter, France 2, and Mezzo. He is also a laureate of the Natexis Foundation Groupe Banque Populaire, recipient of the Tremplin Jeune Selmer scholarship, named a « Revelation » by Classica magazine in 2003, and released his first album in 2004, « La escapada » with pianist Vincent Balse, featuring music by Manuel De Falla, Isaac Albéniz, and H. Villa-Lobos (Lyrinx label). At the request of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Julien-David Petit recorded « Saxophon, » a solo album featuring new pieces for saxophone by the composer, several of which were created and dedicated to him (Stockhausen edition).

Numerous encounters and collaborations with renowned musicians such as Avi Avital, Frank London, Nemanja Radulović, Alexandre Brussilovsky, Markus Stockausen, Giora Feidmann… have enabled him to explore a wide repertoire and develop a strong identity on the soprano saxophone. Julien-David Petit was a member of the saxophone quartet Carré-Mêlé (3rd Prize FNAPEC, Grand Prize of the Forum de Normandie) with which he recorded « Saxophones et Sémaphores » featuring creations by Breton composers Didier Squiban, Antoine Hervé, Roland Becker, and Benoît Menut (distributed by Harmonia Mundi).

Also passionate about traditional Klezmer music and Oriental music, he recorded « Mosaïque » with cellist Béatrice Reibel-Petit and the trio Klezele, an album blending classical and Klezmer music (2007, Intégral distribution). In the same spirit, he created a musical show « Une voix dans le désert » (A Voice in the Desert), combining music, dance, sand drawing, and spatial staging; this was the subject of a 2008 tour across Russia from Moscow to Vladivostok. With the trio Klezele, he released « Freyleh from Vladivostok » in 2009 (Intégral distribution).

Pedagogy is an integral part of his musical activity; he regularly teaches master classes at venues such as the Festival International des Graves, the European University of Gap, the Habanera Academy, and in Madrid, Cologne, Glasgow, Tokyo, Moscow, Paris… Holder of the CA (Certificate of Aptitude), he teaches chamber music at the CRR of Aubervilliers and receives French and foreign students each year who come to perfect their training and prepare for entry into the professional world. Julien-David Petit is a Selmer artist.

“Béatrice Reibel is an exceptional cellist. Her lyricism and ability to transform any score into a powerful musical message make her one of France’s most promising musicians.”

This is how Philippe Muller described Béatrice Reibel-Petit, one of this generation’s most talented performers. Reibel-Petit was born in 1982. At 12 years of age, she was unanimously awarded two gold medals by the jury at the Lyon Conservatoire. She also won First Prizes in Lempdes, Nantes and Epernay. After winning the Royaume de la Musique competition, she performed as a soloist at the Radio France auditorium.

Reibel-Petit studied with Philippe Muller and Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSM de Paris). She graduated in 2002 with prizes in cello and chamber music (first prize with the unanimous congratulations of the jury). She is a representative of France’s renowned cello school, but is also influenced by the American school (Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot) and the Russian school (studying with David Guéringas and Frans Helmerson). She completed the Concert Examination programme at Cologne’s Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, and has benefited from the teachings of Christophe Coin and Anner Bylsma. She has received support from the Natexis Groupe Banque Populaire, Cziffra, Zonta Clubs and Meyer foundations, as well as the Institut français. She has also won prizes at prestigious international competitions in Warsaw (2nd Prize, 2001), Larnaca (Special Prize, 2003), Belgrade (2nd Prize, 2005) and Helsinki (2nd Prize, 2007).

These international teachings allowed Reibel-Petit to develop a unique tone and musicality. Her instrument is a voice, which allows her to share her interpretations and express herself in many different styles. Her first CD for solo cello, Main Ouverte, combined music by Bach and work by contemporary composers such as Dutilleux, Benzecry and Maratka (she performed work by these composers and music by Karol Beffa, Yves Chauris and Piotr Moss). She also seeks to contrast formal music and popular traditions. With saxophonist Julien-David Petit, she recorded a Jewish-themed CD (Mosaïque, Integral Classic 2007) and developed Une Voix dans le désert, a performance that has toured Russia, from Moscow to Vladivostok. Building on these projects, she co-founded the KolorBach ensemble, combines Bach transcriptions, traditional music, improvisation and original compositions.

She has also recorded These three remain presenting an integral Brahms with pianist Delphine Bardin (Proclam’Art Productions, 2019).

Reibel-Petit has been invited to play at many festivals. She has appeared at Prades, the Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, Aix-en-Provence, the Festival International des Graves, the Concerts Jeunes Solistes du Théâtre Mogador, the Auditorium du Louvre and the Festival Musique en Brionnais. She has performed alongside Jean-Guihen Queyras and François Salque under the conductor Pierre Boulez (at the Festival de Fontainebleau). She has played in Belgium, the United States, Canada, Germany, Sardinia, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia. She has played as a soloist with the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, the Camerata Varsovia, the Filharmonia Poznańska, the Filharmonia Śląska of Katowice, the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

She has played several radio programmes for France Musique, Radio Classique and France Culture, with presenters Arièle Butaux, Gaëlle Le Gallic, Mitsou Carré, and Michel Schaeffer.

Reibel-Petit helped found Proclam’Art, a cultural centre in Clamart that hosts experimental artistic projects, a recording studio and music lessons.

www.beatricereibelpetit.com

Sandrine FRANCOIS studied music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Pierre-Yves Artaud where she was unanimously awarded a First Prize in flute and a First Prize in chamber music. She continued her studies in the USA at the Oberlin Conservatory in Michel Debost’s class thanks to a Lavoisier grant from the French government.
She obtained her CA as a flute teacher in 1995 as well as her pedagogy diploma from the CNSM of Paris.
Winner of the Bucharest International Competition, she was first principal flute of the Philharmonie de Lorraine in Metz, then principal flute of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Professor at the Conservatoire since 1996.
Passionate about pedagogy, she also teaches at the Haute école des arts du Rhin de Strasbourg (HEAR) for Bachelor and Master students and created the International Flutissimo course from 2005 to 2008.
She trains future professionals in the orchestral profession as well as in teaching, and also acts as a jury member or in various training sessions.
She is regularly invited to give master-classes in the USA, China, Korea, Japan, England, Canada, Poland, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Latvia, Czech Republic, Italy, Paris…
She regularly performs as a soloist with various orchestras and in chamber music in eclectic repertoires in duo with harp, percussion, cymbalum and piano and with the Ensemble Accroche-Note.
In 2008, she recorded “Bluesy prélude” with pianist Philippe Barbey-Lallia, and in 2013 the CD “Aubade à la lune” for flute, string trio and harp was released with the Ensemble Aeneas.
In 2016 she created the children’s show “La flûte de la Salute” based on a text by Marie Malherbe, which allows her to combine music and theatre.
She teaches every summer in different academies such as Groix or Nancy.

• Concertist

Accompanying pianist at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, and piano teacher at the Conservatories of the VIIth and XVIth districts of Paris.

Born in Osaka, Japan, she began playing the piano at the age of four with her pianist mother, then became a student of Nobuyosi Kato until she graduated from the Toho-Gakuen High School of Music. From this first “Japanese” period, we remember her performance of Chopin’s second concerto at the age of fifteen with the New City Philharmony of Tokyo. She then chose to turn to the country she had dreamed of since her childhood: France. She moved to Paris in 1996 and went directly to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris in the class of Olivier Gardon where she was unanimously awarded the First Prize in 1997.

She then entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris where she won prizes in piano (in 2002) with Georges Pludermacher, Claire Désert, François-Frédéric Guy, and in chamber music with Christian Ivaldi and Itamar Golan. She continued her piano studies at the CNSM in Lyon with Géry Moutier and completed her chamber music training with Paul Meyer and Eric Le Sage. Since 2004 and her meeting with Patrick Cohen, she has developed her passion for historical instruments such as the fortepiano, the romantic piano and the clavichord.

She has won several international competitions and was sponsored by the Cultural Office of Japan between 2003 and 2005.

She regularly gives concerts as a soloist or chamber musician in France, Japan and abroad. She was heard live on France Musique during a meeting with Aldo Ciccolini in Montpellier. She has also played several times with Paul Meyer and Patrick Cohen. She has performed on several famous stages: Lyon Opera, Théâtre Mogador, “Piano Passion” or “Musikalia” festivals, Lyon Auditorium where she played Beethoven’s triple concerto with the National Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Ludovic Morlot or Tchaikovsky’s first concerto with the CNSM Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Peter Csaba. But also the Esplanade of Saint-Etienne with the Saint-Etienne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Martin Lebel. She also opened up to contemporary creation with the choreographic show “L’intrus” under the direction of Jean-Marie Adrien.

In parallel to her career as a performer, she worked as an accompanist pianist at the CNSM in Lyon and then at the Conservatories of the VIIth and XVIth districts of Paris.

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LANGUAGES: Classes are given in French and Japan