BIOGRAPHIES
ROYAUMONT ABBEY
AND PETIT PALAIS
FRANCE 2022
Guest artists
Claire Désert, piano
Claire Désert entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 14, and was unanimously awarded a first prize in the piano class of V. Yankoff as well as a first prize in chamber music in the class of J. Hubeau. She was then admitted to the advanced cycle in these two disciplines (chamber music class of R. Pidoux), and noticed by the pianist and pedagogue E. Malinin, who invited her to continue her studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She is a regular at prestigious festivals in France (festival de la Roque-d’Anthéron, piano aux Jacobins, Lille piano festival, festival de Radio France Montpellier etc…), and is also a presence on international stages (Wigmore hall in London, Kennedy Center in New York, Japan, Brazil, Germany etc…). She performs as a soloist with important symphonic ensembles such as the orchestras of Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Prague, Quebec, Japan… An outstanding chamber musician, Claire Désert plays regularly with pianist Emmanuel Strosser, cellists Anne Gastinel and Gary Hoffman, violinists Régis Pasquier, Philippe Graffin and Tedi Papavrami, the Sine Nomine Quartet, the Moraguès Quintet… Among her numerous and critically acclaimed recordings are her first CD, devoted to Schumann and awarded a “10” for repertoire, as well as a CD of Dvorak and Scriabin concerti, which was awarded a Victoire de la musique in 1997.
David Grimal, violin
A musician renowned for his intellectual curiosity, his taste for all kinds of musical adventures and his commitment to society, David Grimal regularly performs on the world’s greatest stages: Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, Zurich’s Tonhalle, New York’s Lincoln Center, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Budapest’s Liszt Academy, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Brussels’ Bozar… David Grimal has collaborated as soloist with the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Chambre d’Europe, Berliner Symphoniker, Russian National Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra Lisbon, Sinfonia Varsovia. He has performed alongside conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Heinrich Schiff, Lawrence Foster, Emmanuel Krivine, Mikhail Pletnev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Peter Eötvös, Andriss Nelsons, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Christian Arming… Numerous composers have dedicated their works to him: Marc-André Dalbavie, Brice Pauset, Thierry Escaich, Lisa Lim, Jean-François Zygel, Alexandre Gasparov, Victor Kissine, Fuminori Tanada, Ivan Fedele, Philippe Hersant, Anders Hillborg, Oscar Bianchi, Guillaume Connesson, Frédéric Verrières, Eric Montalbetti, Richard Dubugnon, Menachem Zur, Graciane Finzi… For 20 years, David Grimal has devoted part of his career to developing Les Dissonances, of which he is the founder and musical and artistic director. David Grimal has brought together musicians from some of Europe’s finest orchestras, as well as many young talents at the start of their careers, to experience music as a rediscovered joy, tackling the great symphonic repertoire in the spirit of chamber music under his musical direction.The orchestra has been a regular guest on major European stages and international festivals. Films of concerts given by Les Dissonances have been broadcast in over 60 countries. Today he works as soloist and conductor on the Dissonances model with numerous orchestras: Strasbourg, Metz, Galicia, Budapesti Vonosok, Anima Chamber Orchestra, Cracovia, Bilbao, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Radio Bucarest, Murcia, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Neojiba, Kuopio, Sonderjylland, Trondheim, Enescu Philharmonic, Lille … David Grimal has recorded for EMI, Harmonia Mundi, Aeon, Naïve, Transart, Dissonances records and is currently recording for La Dolce Volta. His recordings have been acclaimed by the press: BBC choice, Choc de l’année Classica, Arte selection, ffff Telerama, diapason d’or etc. A sought-after chamber musician, David Grimal is a guest at the greatest international festivals. Today, he regularly performs in piano trio with Philippe Cassard and Anne Gastinel, and in recital with pianist Itamar Golan. David Grimal, for whom the transmission of knowledge to young musicians has always been essential, created in 2022 the Lumières d’Europe academy festival under the presidency of Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize winner in Physics. Lumières d’Europe is aimed at talented young musicians at the start of their careers, who are invited to work and perform alongside international artists in concert. Leading scholars are invited to shed philosophical, literary, historical or scientific light on the themes addressed in each session. Lumières d’Europe takes place in several European capitals, in collaboration with major cultural institutions (Fondation Royaumont, Institut Weizmann, Jerusalem Music Center, Festival International Georges Enescu, Institut de France, Collège de France…) and contributes to the professional integration of young European musicians. In 2004, David Grimal also created L’Autre Saison: a season of concerts in aid of the homeless in Paris, now in partnership with ARTE, where the greatest artists have performed and which has enabled over 400 people to escape from extreme poverty. David Grimal was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2008 by the French Ministry of Culture.A renowned pedagogue, David Grimal teaches violin at the Musikhochschule in Saarbrücken and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, and is regularly invited to sit on juries at major international competitions and give masterclasses around the world. He plays the 1710 Ex-Roederer Stradivarius and the Don Quichotte built for him by Jacques Fustier.He plays bows by Louis Tourte, Dominique Peccatte and Pierre Grunberger, depending on the repertoire.
Diemut Poppen, viola
Diemut Poppen is one of the most outstanding violists of her generation. Born into a well-known musical family in Germany, she started playing the violin at the age of seven, giving her first concerts as a soloist at the age of nine. She learned several instruments, of which the viola became her favorite. Diemut Poppen studied in Düsseldorf, Aachen, Cologne, Berlin, Bloomington (USA) and Paris. Amongst her teachers were the finest violists of our time: Y. Bashmet, K. Kashkashian, B. Giuranna, H. Schlichtig, P. Schidlof from the Amadeus-Quartet. Nowadays, Diemut Poppen is a sought-after violist, playing concerts worldwide. As a soloist and chamber musician she has appeared in the most important music centres around the world. In London she appeared as a soloist at the Barbican Centre and the Queen Elisabeth Hall; and she gave chamber concerts, amongst others, at the Wigmore Hall. Well-known musicians have invited Diemut Poppen to participate in their festivals – amongst others – C. Abbado, A. Schiff, G. Kremer, T. Mork, L. Kavakos, N. Gutman, A. Chaushian. Diemut Poppen performed as a soloist under the baton of conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Frans Brüggen and Claudio Abbado (Carnegie Hall, New York). She has been awarded the European Music Prize. She is currently Professor for Viola and Chamber Music in Detmold, in Madrid, at the Escuela de Musica Reina Sofia and at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. She was Artistic Director of several chamber music festivals, currently of Cantabile Festival Lisboa and Rigi Musiktage/Switzerland. Diemut Poppen was co-principal in Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado and principal viola and a founding member of The Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Poppen’s repertory is exceptionally wide. It spans from the classical viola concertos to all combinations of chamber music as well as contemporary music. Several composers have written new pieces for her, solo as well as concertos, sonatas and chamber music. Diemut Poppen has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Capriccio, Live classics, EMI, Tudor, Ondine, amongst others. This season includes concerts in Germany,Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Israel, Russia, Armenia, the UK and USA.
Gary Hoffman, cello
Gary Hoffman made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in London at the age of fifteen, quickly followed by performances in New York. At the age of twenty-two, he became the youngest faculty appointee in the history of the Indiana University School of Music. After winning the Premier Grand Prix of the Rostropovich International Competition in Paris in 1986, he embarked on an international career, appearing with the world’s most noted orchestras, in major recital and chamber music series, and at prestigious festivals. Although he has great affection for the classical cello repertoire, Gary Hoffman does not neglect contemporary music, of which he is a committed champion. Numerous composers, among them Graciane Finzi, Renaud Gagneux, Joel Hoffman, Laurent Petitgirard and Dominique Lemaître, to name only a few, have dedicated their concertos to him. He is a regular guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, and is a remarkable and much sought-after chamber partner. He has made recordings for BMG (RCA), Sony, EMI and Le Chant du Monde, and now records on the La Dolce Volta label. Gary Hoffman has lived in Paris since 1990. He performs on a 1662 Nicolo Amati, the ‘ex- Leonard Rose’. In 2011, Mr. Hoffman was appointed Maître en Résidence for cello at the prestigious Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.
Gérard Pesson, composer in residence
Gérard Pesson first studied literature and musicology at the Sorbonne, where he defended a thesis on the Aesthetics of aleatoric music, before entering the classes of Betsy Jolas and Ivo Malec at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he won two first prizes in the analysis and composition classes. In 1986, he founded the contemporary music review Entretemps. In 1986, he won first prize at the Studium de Toulouse for Les Chants Faëz, and was awarded a prize in the « Opéra autrement » competition for Beau Soir, which was first performed in concert at the Festival d’Avignon in 1989, and then given a stage version at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg in 1990. After winning the Prix de Rome, he was a resident at the Villa Médicis from October 1990 to April 1992. In 1996, Gérard Pesson won the Prince Pierre de Monaco Prize. Since 1988, Gérard Pesson has devoted himself more particularly to stage music, notably with the choreographer Daniel Dobbels, for whom he creates the original music for his shows. His works have been performed by numerous ensembles and orchestras in France and abroad: Ensemble Fa, Ensemble 2e2m, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Itinéraire, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Ictus, Alter Ego, Accroche Note, Erwartung, Orchestre national de Lyon, Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, etc. His opera Forever Valley, commissioned by T&M, on a libretto by Marie Redonnet, was premiered in April 2000 at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre. His opera Pastorale, based on L’Astrée by Honoré d’Urfé, was premiered in Stuttgart in May 2006 in a concert version, then in France, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in 2009 in a stage version. His concerto Future is a faded song was premiered on October 5, 2012 in Zurich with Alexandre Tharaud on piano and the Zurich Orchestra conducted by Pierre-André Valade. He is also a professor of composition at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. He has also been a producer at France Musique since 1986, notably of Boudoirs et autres which ended in July 2014, after 379 broadcasts.
Scientists
Denis Thouard, philosopher and research director at the CNRS
Researcher, historian of philosophy, critic, philosopher, translator, poet.
Thesis on Kant and Schleiermacher (1997).
Works on Jena Romanticism: Critique et herméneutique dans le premier romantisme allemand (1996) ; Symphilosophie. Friedrich Schlegel à Iéna (2002) ; Le partage des idées (2007).
Books: Kant (2000) ; Schleiermacher (2007) ; Et toute langue est étrangère. Le projet de Humboldt (2016) ; Goethe, le second auteur (2022).
Translations, editions: Meister (poèmes, 1993) ; Humboldt (1999-2000) ; Schleiermacher, Esthétique (2004).
Laurent Pernot, member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Laurent Pernot, born July 10, 1955 in Saumur, is a French professor and historian, specialist in ancient Greek rhetoric. He has been a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres since 2012. By decree of the President of the Republic dated November 13, 2014, he was named a Knight in the National Order of Merit and, since October 1, 2015, he is a Senior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Laurent Pernot studied at the École Normale Supérieure and obtained an agrégation in Classics and a doctorate of State. He is a professor at the University of Strasbourg, where he is director of the Institute of Greek and founder of the Center for the Analysis of Religious Rhetoric in Antiquity. His research focuses on rhetoric (second sophistry) in ancient Greece. A correspondent of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres since April 28, 2006, he was elected member on October 19, 2012, in the chair of Louis Bazin.
Catherine Bréchignac, physicist, former president of the CNRS and former permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences
Catherine Bréchignac, born Teillac on June 12, 1946 in Paris, is a French physicist. President of the CNRS from 2006 to 2010 and of the High Council for Biotechnology from 2009 to 2010, she is an elected member of the Academy of Sciences since November 2005 and perpetual secretary of the Academy from 2011 to 2018 in the first section covering mathematics, physics and sciences of the universe. She was appointed president of the CNRS at the Council of Ministers meeting of January 11, 2006, on the proposal of the Minister of Higher Education and Research François Goulard, after a management crisis that had seen her predecessor Bernard Meunier and the director general of the CNRS Bernard Larrouturou clash. She then formed a tandem with Arnold Migus as director general, but the predominant role of the presidency was clarified. She was appointed president of the High Council for Biotechnology on April 30, 2009, and then ambassador for science, technology and innovation in January 2010. After being elected on June 22, 2010 as perpetual secretary of the French Academy of Sciences, she left the presidency of the High Council for Biotechnology on December 31, 2010 to be able to concentrate fully on her new position. She is also a member of the scientific council of the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (OPECST) and a member of the orientation council of the Ecology of the Future Foundation, created in 2011.
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