Pulcinella is a collective of virtuoso soloists gathered in a chamber spirit around the cellist Ophélie Gaillard. Its members, all of whom appear with renowned ensembles, share a passion for baroque music performances on period instruments. Those highly experienced musicians, for whom sound and articulation are of the utmost importance, explore some of the major works of the repertoire, but also unearthing or unpublished pieces. The ensemble s five recordings have received glowing reviews from the press: the complete Sonatas for cello and basso continuo of Vivaldi (2006) and Luigi Boccherini (2007), and Bach Arias (2012). Since 2014, two albums devoted to CPE Bach and recorded by the Pulcinella Orchestra garnered awards and distinctions from the national and international press ( Diapason d Or de l année, Choc de Classica, Strad, Toccata, Gramophone). The ensemble works regularly with the finest singers of the younger generation and appears at prestigious venues (Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Arsenal in Metz, festivals of Beaune, Radio France - Montpellier, Pontoise, Colmar, Vézelay ). Pulcinella is developing a committed, socially aware policy, in particularly on its territory of residence, Ile -defrance, and especially in Seine-Saint-Denis, in order to introduce Baroque and Classical music to the greatest number. After a three-year residency at the Pontoise Baroque Festival and the Espace Michel Simon in Noisy-le- Grand, the musicians of Pulcinella are henceforth continuing their collaborations with La Barbacane in Beynes, the Collège des Bernardins (Paris), and the City of Pantin. Since 2013, the Pulcinella Orchestra has appeared in orchestral formation, in particular with the Maîtrise de Radio-France under the direction of Sofi Jeanin, Les Pages et des Chantres du CMBV, under the direction of Olivier Schneebeli, and the Arsys Bourgogne chorus. www.pulcinella.fr
Directed by the young conductor Mihály Zeke, Arsys Bourgogne is a vocal ensemble whose mission is to perform everything from early choral music to contemporary compositions. Founded in 1999 by Pierre Cao, who conducted the ensemble for 15 years, Arsys Bourgogne has a rich history filled with quality and excellence. The ensemble is comprised of 8 to 16 singers and takes on six centuries of a cappella vocal repertoire as well as choral works with orchestra. Since taking on the artistic direction in 2015, Mihály Zeke has brought Arsys Bourgogne into new and original choral music experiences. He is interested in forging links between Early and New music by creating strong relationships with today s composers, such as Alexandros Markeas and Benoît Menut. From Claudio Monteverdi to Olivier Messiaen, through Johann Sebastian Bach Giacinto Scelsi and Philippe Hersant, Arsys Bourgogne s programs showcase composers from different eras in order to bring a new sense of meaning to each work. The ensemble also proposes new multidisciplinary programs that have elements of dramaturgy and staging. With a rich history of performing oratorios, Arsys pursues collaborations with well-known ensembles such as La Fenice, Les Surprises and accentus. These joint efforts enhance and expand the ensemble s repertoire and allow for performances of works such as the Monteverdi Vespers, Handel s Dixit Dominus or Mozart s Vesperae solennes de confessore. Arsys Bourgogne is strongly committed to pedagogical activities and provides professional development to young singers who are enrolled in Music Conservatories or Écoles Supérieures de Musiques, such as the ESM Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Arsys Bourgogne rehearses and performs regularly in Vézelay with rehearsals open to the public and concerts in the Rencontres Musicales de Vézelay. Since 2015, Arsys Bourgogne has become a part of the «Public Establishment, La Cité de la Voix. Arsys Bourgogne is supported by the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the Ministry of Culture and Communication (DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) the Departmental Council of the Yonne.
Though on paper the music has an almost military precision, the supple, direct technique of the performer carries the listener through the movements with the fluidity of a mountain stream. Diapason, Juin 2011. standards. This brilliant Franco-Swiss musician embodies an insatiable curiosity, a taste for risk and an immoderate appetite for the whole of the concertante cello repertoire. She does not set boundaries and definitely avoids petty quarrels: this is undoubtedly why she has rapidly set the Voted Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2003, she has since then appeared in recital as well in Asia as in Europe and is invited by the most prestigious orchestra like Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic. In 2005, Ophélie Gaillard founded the Pulcinella Orchestra, an ensemble devoted to performance on period instruments. Their recordings devoted to Vivaldi, Boccherini and Bach, then Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in 2014 and 2016, received the highest distinctions from the music press ( Diapason d or de l année, Choc de Classica, ffff from Télérama ). She is also a favoured interpreter of contemporary composers, works in close collaboration with dancers and actors, and has recorded several complete cycles for Aparté, hailed by the press: Bach, Britten, Schumann, Fauré, then Chopin and Brahms. A sought-after teacher, she regularly gives master classes abroad, is invited as a member of the jury at the ARD competitions, and is a professor at the Haute École de Musique of Geneva (HEM) since 2014. Ophélie Gaillard plays a cello by Francesco Goffriller (1737), generously loaned to her by CIC, and also a Flemish violoncello piccolo (anonymous). www.opheliegaillard.com
Born 1982 in London to a family of musicians, Mihály Menelaos Zeke grew up in Budapest and Athens. He studied piano, violin, horn and music theory at the Athens Conservatory as well as the organ with Nicolas Kynaston. After a few years dedicated to biology, he followed Helmuth Rilling's advice and began his higher musical studies at the Stuttgart music academy, initially in piano and sacred music, subsequently in conducting. He was a pupil of Jon Laukvik in organ and historical performance practice, as well as of Dieter Kurz in choral conducting. Fascinated by the singing voice, Mihály gained precious experience as a collaborative pianist for such great voice teachers as Júlia Hamari, Dunja Vejzović and Ulrike Sonntag, as well as at the service of the Gächinger Kantorei and the Stuttgart Chamber Choir of Frieder Bernius. Repertoire for voice and piano have been a mainstay in his musical activities ever since, notably in collaboration with soprano Rabea Kramp and baritone Krešimir Stražanac, greeted with a first prize in the Berlin Paula-Salomon- Lindberg competition and a best pianist prize at the Slovenj Gradec Hugo-Wolf-Competition. Thanks to the Kyveli-Horn foundation's bursary for choral conducting and to the support of the Stuttgart Musikhochschule's Friends' Society, Mihály pursued postgraduate studies with Richard Wien and Denis Rouger. In 2012 he was admitted in the Dirigentenforum, the German ministry of culture's scholarship programme for young conductors, which gave him the opportunity to regularly attend workshops and work with ensembles such as the MDR, SWR and Swedish radio choirs, the Kammerchor Saarbrücken etc., and under the guidance of Stefan Parkman, Peter Dijkstra, Morten Schuldt-Jensen, Nicole Corti and Jörg-Peter Weigle. In the same year he founded the young French-German chamber choir Candides that went on to win the first prize at the Neuchâtel Choral Competition of 2014. Mihály was choir master at the Dijon opera from 2012 to 2015, a period during which the house choir made significant progress in a wide repertoire ranging from Mozart to Berg, including operatic, oratorio and a cappella works. He worked on various external projects such as the ENO's staging of John Adams' Gospel according to the Other Mary as guest chorus master and conducted Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis. In 2015 he was appointed artistic director of the chamber choir Arsys Bourgogne, succeeding to the ensemble's founder Pierre Cao, in Vézelay. Under his direction Arsys continues to interpret baroque repertoire and especially Bach's works, while at the same time turning towards modern and contemporary works by composers such as Philippe Hersant, Giacinto Scelsi, Olivier Messiaen, Benoît Menut, Alexandros Markeas etc. Mihály Zeke regularly collaborates with orchestras such as Les Surprises, La Fenice, Pulcinella and the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne. He has also developed a passion for teaching at the Bourgogne-Franche- Comté School for superior musical studies as well as at the Paris conservatory.