French flutist, pianist to perform in Vietnam

Internationally acclaimed flutist Nicolas Duchamp and pianist Hélène Jeanney will perform at Ho Chi Minh City’s International Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) on May 24^th to mark the 100th death anniversary of French composer Debussy.

French pianist Hélène Jeanney will perform at the HCM City’s International Cultural Exchange with France on May 24^th. (Photo:http://vietnamnews.vn)

Jeanney will continue with a solo piano piece L’Isle joyeuse (The Joyful Island) composed by Debussy in 1904.

The duo will complete the night with works by three French composers, including Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, Gabriel Fauré’s Sonata in A Major, Op 13 for flute and piano, and Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir (The Blackbird).

Duchamp will open the concert with Debussy’s Syrinx, a piece of music for solo flute composed in 1913, and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) written from 1892-1894, which was inspired by a poem of the same title by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé.

Duchamp has served as principal flutist for the National Opera Comique in Paris for many years, and has performed as a soloist with leading French ensembles like the Paris Opera Bastille, Nice Opera and Bordeaux National Opera.

He has also held solo recitals at prestigious concert halls, including Spivey Hall in Atlanta and Carnegie Hall in New York in the U.S., and Olympia Hall in Munich, Germany, and worked with international conductors Seiji Ozawa, Georges Prêtre and Myung-Whun Chung, among others.

Duchamp has toured throughout Europe, North America and Japan, and has been featured at numerous international festivals, such as Radio France Broadcast Festival in France, Switzerland’s Crans-Montana Festival, and the American Music Festival.

He has been professor of flute at many schools in France and offered master classes at schools in the U.S., Japan, France and Canada.

Jeanney began studying music at the age of five, and graduated from the Paris Conservatory at the age of 17 with a first prize in Piano and Chamber Music.

She has performed and given master classes throughout Europe, Australia and the U.S.

She has received several top awards at prestigious competitions such as the Concours International de Piano d’Epinal in France, the Chopin National Competition in Miami and the Concert Artist Guild of the U,S.

Jeanney’s recent collaboration with Duchamp led to a series of concerts in Paris, New York and Japan.

They will perform in Hanoi on May 26^th./.

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