Arsys Bourgogne & Zefiro-Pierre Cao
Biography Arsys Bourgogne & Zefiro-Pierre Cao
Arsys Bourgogne
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.
Ensemble Zefiro
According to Greek mythology, ZEFIRO was the tender and kind God of the Western Wind. In 1989, the oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassoonist Alberto Grazzi, members of the most outstanding baroque orchestras, founded ZEFIRO, a versatile music group specialising in the eighteenth-century repertoire that gives particular prominence to wind instruments.
Since then, ZEFIRO has performed at many major European festivals, including those of Amsterdam, Aranjuez, Barcelona, Bonn, Geneva, Graz, Helsinki, Innsbruck, London, Liege, Lyons, London, Malmö, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Potsdam, Prague, Ravenna, Regensburg, Rome, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Stresa, Utrecht and Vienna. They have also played in Israel, Egypt, Japan, Korea, USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil and have always received enthusiastic responses from both audiences and the press. In 1999 ZEFIRO has realized a documentary-film on Antonio Vivaldi for the Belgian broadcasting company RTBF.
ZEFIRO’s recordings include the six Sonatas for two oboes and bassoon by Jan Dismas Zelenka, the complete works for wind ensemble of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and their own arrangements for 12 winds and a double bass of excerpts from the three Mozart operas to librettos by Lorenzo da Ponte, Concertos for oboe, bassoon and strings and Concerti per vari strumenti by Antonio Vivaldi as part of the project by Opus/Naïve for the complete recording of Music by this composer from the University Library of Turin.
The ensemble has also rehabilitated two remarkable composers of the late eighteenth century, Georg Druschetzky and Luigi Gatti, and its recording of Handel’s Water Music and Telemann’s Wassermusik has established ZEFIRO’s reputation also as a Baroque orchestra. More recent recordings include wind music by L.v.Beethoven, the Divertimenti for winds and strings by W.A.Mozart, “The Musick for the Royal Fireworks” by G.F.Handel and “Concerti & Ouverture” by J.F.Fasch all published to the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/Sony Music label. All these CDs have received several international awards, including the coveted Grand Prix du Disque, the “Premio Nazionale Classic Voice”, the Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, the “Choc du Monde de la Musique de l’année 2007” and the “Diapason d’Or de l’année 2009”; ZEFIRO is now a reference worldwide, famed for its virtuoso performances of the wind repertoire on period instruments. ZEFIRO’s activity is divided into three formations: chamber ensemble, wind group (“Harmonie”) and baroque orchestra to cover a vast part of the baroque repertoire from vivaldi Concertos to Handel Operas, from Bach Cantatas and Haydn Masses to wind music by Mozart, Rossini and Beethoven.
