Cello recital

Cello recital
with Pierre Fontenelle

Works by Claude Debussy, Jean-Paul Dessy, Ahnet Adnan Saygun, Reena Esmail, Imogen Holst, Caroline Shaw, Andrea Casarrubios

Biography

"Without a doubt, Pierre Fontenelle has the makings of great artists: those who don't compartmentalize or denigrate anything or anyone. Curious, generous, a good listener, lively and brilliant, he recounts music in great detail, carried away cheerfully by his passion" (Musiq'3)

Pierre Fontenelle is a young Belgian-American cellist deploying his career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician as much in Belgium as internationally. Winner of the Breughel Competition 2022 (1st Prize, Audience Prize, Best Performance Prize), the Buchet Competition 2020 (2nd Prize "Van Hecke") and the Edmond Baert Competition 2019 (1st Prize and Feldbusch Prize), Pierre was also cello soloist at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège until 2022. Since then, he has performed as soloist in prestigious venues in Belgium and abroad, including Flagey, the Queen Elisabeth Chapel, La Seine Musicale, the Taipei National Concert Hall and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. He has also been invited as a soloist by renowned ensembles, including the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Musiques Nouvelles, Casco Phil, the Musique Royale des Guides and the Musique Militaire Grand-Ducale.

For his contribution to Belgian music, he receives the Trophée FUGA 2024 from the Union des Compositeurs Belges. The 2024-25 season will mark the release of his solo album Roots (spring 2025), a series of concerto concerts (Schumann, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Gulda), and concerto premieres by the
belgian composer Apolline Jesupret and French composer Jean-François Jung. He will also be artist-in-residence at Abbaye de Royaumont alongside pianist Ninon Hannecart-Ségal.

Pierre works with renowned artists such as Florian Noack, Gaëlle Solal, Jodie Devos, and Gwendoline Blondeel. Outside the classical repertoire, he explores innovative formats and contemporary popular music with his Duo Kiasma alongside accordionist Frin Wolter (1st Prize - Accordé'Opale Competition). After a debut album, American Album (works by Copland and Adams) with Oxalys in April 2024 on Passacaille Records, Roots pays tribute to contemporary American music, resonating with its origins.

Self-taught as a child in Seattle, he went on to study at conservatories in Luxembourg, Namur (IMEP), Mons and Paris, where he benefited from the teaching of mentors such as Éric Chardon, Han Bin Yoon and Anne Gastinel. Professor at the IMEP (Namur), he plays on a Nicolas-François Vuillaume cello from 1860 made available by the King Baudouin Foundation thanks to the generosity of the Fonds Léon Courtin-Marcel Bouché and the Strings For Talent Foundation, as well as a Ruggieri from 1690.

Namurois de l'Année 2020, Pierre Fontenelle is also the founder and artistic director of the Concerts des Dames at the Abbaye Notre-Dame du Vivier, and enjoys reading and writing poetry.

The program

Claude Debussy: Syrinx
Jean-Paul Dessy : Philia (French premiere)
Ahmet Adnan Saygun: Allegretto (from Partita op. 31)
Reena Esmail : Sandhiprakash (French premiere)
Imogen Holst: Fall of the leaf

Caroline Shaw: in manus tuas
Andrea Casarrubios : SEVEN