Date/Time
Date(s) - 20/Apr/2024
Genre - Chamber Music
Artie’s festival – 27th edition
Saturday 20th April at 7 pm, Mazda Hall
In a programme of J. S. Bach: ‘Jesu joy of Man’s desiring’ (arr. cello and piano); Antonín Dvorák: Quintet for Piano and Strings Op. 81 and Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano quintet G minor Op. 57
Gauthier Herrmann, cello
Mathilde Borsarello Herrmann, violin
Hugo Meder, violin
Violaine Despeyroux, viola
Jean-Michel Dayez, piano
Traveler, entrepreneur, ultra-trailer, Gauthier Herrmann isn’t your typical musician. A cellist with a passion for small ensembles and chamber music, Gauthier is laureate of international competitions in Florence (Italy), Heerlen (Netherlands), Illzach, Vibrarte, Fnapec (France). He is also a finisher of crazy races, such as La Diagonale des fous in La Reunion, the 100km of Millau, the Oisons Trail Tour…
In 2001, Gauthier discovered India. It was from this moment on that Artie’s adventures were born, a slightly crazy project that could be summarized as follows: music, kindness, curiosity and enterprise. Around Gauthier, a plethora of musician friends crystallized, who would travel the world, under his leadership and his artistic direction. Gauthier has had the pleasure of performing in more than 50 countries and in particular of developing recurring projects in India, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal and of course Europe…
In 2012, Gauthier founded a production company, LdB-prod (or Louis de Beethoven), a French tribute to his musical idol. LdB-prod imagines and offers seasons of chamber music with an assumed ambition : to reestablish intimacy between the room and the stage, to bring the artists closer to their audience. Gauthier plays a magnificent cello by the Italian violin maker Giuseppe Rocca (Turin, 1853), placed in his hands by the Eisenberg Fund.
A Prize winner of the prestigious Marguerite Long – Jacques Thibaud competition in 2010, Mathilde Borsarello Herrmann puts her talent at the service of music in all its forms. Her true mother tongue… Music! A total immersion from childhood, a vocation of course, but above all a passion… Violin, piano, voice, sonata, trio, quartet, teaching, orchestra, it is with appetite that she devours a wide repertoire ranging from J S Bach to Arvo Pärt.
From her beginnings at the CNR in Paris to her two graduate degrees at the CNSMDP, she has a deep appreciation for those who have shaped her musical identity, Suzanne Gessner, Patrice Fontanarosa, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Roland Daugareil in violin as well as Paul Boufil, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Alain Meunier, Maurice Bourgue and Marc Coppey in chamber music. Her passion for chamber music led her to perform with partners such as Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, the Ebène quartet, Roland Daugareil, Henri Demarquette, Romain Descharmes, Olivier Patey and Shani Diluka…
With the perfectionism that characterizes her, Mathilde wanted to explore in depth the repertoire of the piano trio by creating in 2002 the Trio Estampe with pianist Claudine Simon and cellist Caroline Boita. Supported by the Meyer Foundation, they record a CD “Young Soloist” in 2010, then in 2012 an album around the trio opus 5 of Max Bruch for the label Artie’s Records, distribution Harmonia Mundi. For this insatiable music, to deprive oneself of the symphonic repertoire was unthinkable. Mathilde was a member of the Orchestre National de France from 2007 to 2017 under the direction of Maestro Daniele Gatti. During these 8 years in this formation, she had the opportunity to play in the most prestigious halls (Amsterdam, London, New York, Vienna…) and to be directed by, among others, Maestros Masur, Muti, Ozawa, Järvi, Sokhiev, Bychkov, Haitink in repertoire as varied as they are complete. Her violin, by the Italian luthier Riccardo Genovese (1931), follows in all her adventures. Currently, she is the first violinist of the Psophos Quartet.
Hailed by critics for being “a passionate and committed violinist” (Bachtrack), Hugo Meder embodies the new generation of French violinists. Born into a family of Alsatian winegrowers and cabinetmakers, Hugo discovered the violin at a music school near his village. Immediately spotted by his teachers, he quickly joined the Strasbourg Conservatory in the class of Ana Reverdito-Haas, who revealed his great musicality and made him join the CNSMDP (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris) in Alexis Galperineʼs class. He then also received the wise advice of great soloists such as Marina Chiche, Amaury Coetaux, Pierre Colombet and Olivier Charlier. After obtaining his master’s degree, he was admitted to the Performing Artist Diploma (post-master’s 3rd cycle) and led a project around Bartókʼs music for the violin. During 2020, he was also admitted to the Young Talents programme of the Jaroussky Academy, giving him the opportunity to work with artists such as Geneviève Laurenceau, Christian Pierre La Marca, Philippe Jaroussky and David Kadouch.
In the meanwhile, he began a career as a soloist and performed regularly in venues such as the Auditorium de la Seine Musicale in Paris or the Kammermusiksaal in Stuttgart. He then collaborated with the conductors Mathieu Herzog, Chloé Dufresne and Jeanne Cousin as well as with several ensembles including the Orchester Appassionato, the Orchester interUniversitaire de Paris and the Ensemble Orchestral Clair de Lune. Winner of numerous international competitions (among others, the First Prize of the FNAPEC, the Honorary Prize of the Bellan Competition, the first prize of the Nouvelles Étoile Competition in Paris), we can hear about him in La Lettre du Musicien or on France Musique.
Hugo is supported by the Safran Foundation and is a laureate of the Royaumont Foundation. He plays a Gand et Bernardel violin from 1889 and a Pierre Nehr bow from 2019.
‘I consider music as a journey, a moment suspended in time, which is different with each interpretation. The listeners will be guided simply into a story that we create together.’
This conception of musical interpretation as a unique and immersive moment of sharing is the basis of Violaine Despeyroux’s artistic practice. This young viola player, much sought after as a chamber musician and soloist, stands out on stage, with her personality and energy, both precise and electrifying.
Violaine Despeyroux has been awarded the 1st prize at the National Competition for Young Violists and the 2nd prize and prize for the best Bach performance at the International Competition of viola Cecil Aronowitz in Birmingham amongst others.
A passion and tenacity that can be found in the prestigious European and international music halls – the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Seiji Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood (USA), the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris or the Palais des Beaux-arts in Brussels, alongside renowned partners like Renaud Capuçon, Gary Hoffman, Claire Désert, Suyoen Kim, Alexandra Soumm, Smoking Josephine Ensemble.
As a soloist, Violaine Despeyroux performed in France, Italie and Belgium with conductors such as Vahan Mardirossian and Ian Fountain. Her season 22/23 will be marked by her debut in Flagey (Brussel), performing Mozart Symphonie Concertante with Renaud Capuçon. Particularly attached to chamber music and endlessly eager to expand her repertoire, she played in major festivals such as Festival de Pâques, Festival Radio France in Montpellier, Folles journées de Nantes, among many others.
Violaine Despeyroux is also regularly invited by major ensembles such as the Paris National Opera, the Orchestre de Paris, WDR Symphonie orchestra or the Kölner Kammerorchester, among the orchestra. But she also likes to be where we don’t expect her, breaking the mold and off the beaten path. It’s because Violaine Despeyroux considers so-called classical music above all as a living and vibrant art. There so many subtle shades and powerful encounters where her personality and her instrument (a Jacquot 1863 viola) find each other in perfect harmony.
Born near Valenciennes in the north of France, Jean-Michel Dayez graduated from the Valenciennes and Lille Conservatoires, then joined Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden’s class at the Brussels Royal Conservatory (1997). A year later he graduated with flying colours and was awarded the Special Jury Prize. In 1998, he was admitted to the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elizabeth where he studied for three years and graduated with the highest honours.
He then studied composition and accompaniment at the Paris CNSMD, graduating in 2004. A laureate of several competitions (Tenuto Competition, Brussels; Emmanuel Darlet International Competition, Antwerp, where he was awarded the Press Prize), he received grants from the Émile Bernheim Foundation (Brussels) and the Meyer Foundation (Paris) in 2004.
A fine chamber musician, J.-M. Dayez also plays the great concerto repertoire (Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Liszt, Mozart…) and his recital programmes range from Bach to Berio. He has recorded the complete works of Fauré for cello and piano, and Beethoven’s five sonatas for cello and piano, respectively with cellists Xavier Gagnepain and Nicolas Deletaille. He has also recorded Franck’s quintet with piano. Jean-Michel Dayez currently teaches at the Lille Conservatoire.
