Olivier Baumont, Beatrice Martin, Claire Antonini, Julien Cigana
Biography Olivier Baumont, Beatrice Martin, Claire Antonini, Julien Cigana
Olivier Baumont
Considered one of the major harpsichordists of his generation, Olivier Baumont has for several decades enjoyed a rich career as a performer, teacher and researcher.
At the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, juries unanimously awarded him first prizes for harpsichord and chamber music. He benefited from the artistic guidance of Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert, and was occasionally invited by Gustav Leonhardt to attend his interpretation classes in Cologne.
Olivier Baumont’s fine qualities as a musician were quickly recognized. Curious, ardent and erudite, he has a keen sense of communication (masterclasses, conferences, radio and television programs), he enjoys being on stage and takes pleasure in sharing his taste for the 17th and 18th centuries with others, making him hailed as an artist with multiple facets, solicited around the world.
Invited by the principal festivals in France and abroad, Olivier Baumont has performed in numerous countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Spain, the United States, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey. In September 2019, he accepted the direction, along with Rosana Lanzelotte, of a new festival in Rio de Janiero, initiated by the French Embassy: BAROQUE IN RIO.
In addition, he initiates and participates regularly in a large number of radio and television programs (France Musique, France Culture, Radio Suisse-Romande, the BBC, FR3, Muzzik and Mezzo).
Although he primarily performs in solo recitals, Olivier Baumont appreciates his artistic affinities with many singers and instrumentalists, such as Isabelle Druet, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Isabelle Poulenard, Julien Chauvin, Christophe Coin, Christine Plubeau, Hugo Reyne… He equally enjoys performing duets for four hands, two harpsichords, with many friends like Béatrice Martin and Davitt Moroney, and also with young and brilliant colleagues like Aurélien Delage, Cristiano Gaudio, Jean-Luc Ho, Justin Taylor…
For the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Olivier Baumont initiated a cycle of 20 concerts devoted to the corpus of harpsichord works by Johann Sebastian Bach. This unique international event took place in March 2014 and was recorded on video. In July 2018, he participated in the performance of Scarlatti’s sonatas in their entirety for the Festival of Radio France Montpellier. He is scheduled to collaborate in the performance of all of Bach’s concerti for harpsichords in October 2020.
Béatrice Martin
The harpsichordist Béatrice Martin was born at Annecy in 1973, began her keyboard studies at the age of six and completed her training at the Geneva Conservatoire, where she was awarded first prize in 1992. She continued her studies at the Paris Conservatoire under Kenneth Gilbert and Christophe Rousset, winning in successive years first prizes in chamber music, harpsichord and continuo playing, before proceeding to further study with Huguette Dreyfus, Ton Koopman and Pierre Hantaï. Her career has brought appearances as a soloist and recitalist throughout Europe and in Japan, and, in 1998, the first prize and audience prize at the Brussels Harpsichord Competition.
Claire Antonini
Following advanced studies of the guitar, Claire Antonini takes up the lute and early music with Antoine Geoffroy Dechaume. Then, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique at Lyons, she is taught by Eugène Ferré, Gérard Geay, Robert Crawford Young... In 1992, she is awarded, unanimously by the jury, the Diplôme National d'Etudes Supérieurs de Musique. The same year she earns the Certificat d'Aptitude for the teaching of early music.
On the other hand, since 1979 she has studied traditional Persian music with Dariush Talaï and has obtained in 1989 the Diplôme d'Etat of a teacher of traditional music.
She gives regular recitals in France and abroad, particularly at the Museum of the Cité de la Musique, the Centre for Arab and Mediterranean music in Tunis, the Festival of L'Ile de France and contributes greatly to the dissemination of lute music, in particular the French Lute School of the XVII century. She also plays continuo with various baroque ensembles such as: "La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy", "Le Concert Spirituel", "A deux violes esgales" and regularly accompanies the counter tenor Philippe Jaroussky.
In addition, she has continued to teach for a number of years and at the moment she directs the early music department at the Conservatioire de Chelles, where she is particularly interested in developing the study of the lute with children and young pupils.
Julien Cigana
Originally from Bordeaux, Julien Cigana trained at the Ecole d’art dramatique Claude Mathieu (Paris 18e) and through various training internships in clowning and voice. As a freelance actor, he has worked with Alain Gautré, Xavier Lemaire, Philippe Adrien and Jean Bellorini, amongst others. Theatre is his first passion, and in 2002 he discovered the Baroque style and what he deems its “explosion of the senses.” Julien would go on to play in several productions under Jean-Denis Monory and Benjamin Lazar. Since, he has been the narrator for numerous classical concerts, notably with Olivier Baumont and Il Festino ensemble. He wrote his first play, Le bois dont je suis fait, in 2016 with Nicolas Devort (Les Cygnes Editions).
