Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/Jun/2022
Genre - Festivals
Arties festival – Sunday 5th June 2022 at 6.30 pm
Gauthier Herrman, cello; Cyprien Brod, violin and Romain Descharmes, piano
In a programme of Ludwig van Beethoven: 10 Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’, Op. 121a, Edvard Grieg: Cello sonata Op. 36 and Ernest Chausson: Piano Trio Op. 3
In association with Alliance Française de Pune
Photo: Thomas Baltes
Traveller, entrepreneur, explorer, Gauthier Herrmann is not your typical musician. Chamber musician, Artistic Director of Artie’s, winner of the International competitions of Heerlen, Firenze, Illzach, Paris. A passionate cello player with a focus on chamber music, founder and director of “Artie’s”, Gauthier has travelled the world for many years in the company of his family and Artie’s joyful musicians; artists united by their repertoire and their loyalty to each other.
His focus and determination have led him to be held in high regard on the classical musical circuit. He has received high awards (with the Trio con Fuoco) and acclaim at the Florence, Heerlen, Illzach, Vibrarte and Fnapec music competitions and he is highly respected by leading musicians. In 2001, Gauthier Herrmann discovered India. This trip gave birth to the Artie’s adventure, a slightly crazy project summed up by two words at the heart of modern day classical music : family and enterprise.
Artie’s Festival’s development is thanks to an entrepreneur who, wanting to set-up a series of music concerts, sold his first cello, to make possible the dream of bringing together two worlds previously seen as incompatible: classical music and India. Besides India, Artie’s has played in China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal and in Europe of course.
Cyprien Brod discovered his instrument at the age of 6, when he first heard it. As an active and curious child, he practiced the violin alongside other activities. It was four years later that the musician attended Hilary Hahn’s concert, which created a real trigger in him. After listening to the artist, he felt that he wanted to devote himself to music and make it his profession. The practice of the violin then became his priority.
From 2005, he attended José Alvarez’s classes in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where he obtained a first prize in violin in 2009, unanimously with honours. Then, he joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris where he obtained in 2015 his Conservatoire prize, still with honours, with Philippe Graffin. Many artists inspire Cyprien, such as Maxim Vengerov, Kavakos, Luc Marie Aguera, and one of his teachers, but also Philippe Bernhard of the Modigliani quartet. He feeds on these life paths and aspires to a career as a quartet player: he likes the idea of forming a four-person sound, in complete intimacy. In early 2017, he made progress towards this goal by forming the Elmire Quartet, in which he played with Khoa-Nam Nguyen, Issey Nadaud, and Remi Carlon. Cyprien Brod plays a Nicolas Lupot violin made in Paris in 1817, graciously lent by Mr. and Mrs. Moreno.
Romain Descharmes studied at the Conservatoire régional du Grand Nancy, where he won a gold medal in the Hugues Leclère’s class at the age of 14. Later, he won four first prizes (piano, chamber music, piano accompaniment and vocal accompaniment).
Romain Descharmes was awarded First Prize in the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2006, leading him to perform recitals on such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Minato Hall in Yokohama, Tsuda Hall and Hakuju Hall in Tokyo, Salle Cortot and Salle Pleyel in Paris. He has been also awarded prizes at other international competitions (Vlado Perlemuter, Shanghai, Hamamatsu, Alessandro Casagrande), and has received the support of the Yamaha and Natexis-Banque Populaire foundations.
Romain Descharmes has appeared in concert with orchestras in US, England, Ireland, France, Japan and China, most notably with the Midland Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and many others. He has performed many piano recitals worldwide. Romain Descharmes has also participated in numerous broadcasts for television and radio (France Musique, Mezzo TV, NHK Japan). He has recorded several CDs for piano (Ravel -Audite, Brahms -Claudio Records) and chamber music (Naïve, Cristal, Saphir).
He is also much sought-after as a chamber musician. He is renowned for his attentive, sensitive playing and wide repertoire, which ranges from sonatas to larger ensemble pieces, as well as lieder, of which he is particularly fond. He has collaborated with such artists as Roland Daugareil, Henri Demarquette, Laurent Korcia, Sarah Nemtanu, the Court-Circuit Ensemble, the Ebène Philarmoniker Quintette.
