5 national orchestras have decided to unite their efforts in a consortium with the aim of promoting the visibility of contemporary musical creation: the national orchestras of Avignon, Brittany, Cannes, Mulhouse and Picardy.

If the initiatives towards contemporary music are multiplying, just like the residences of composers, these do not resist the durability of contemporary music and do not allow the public to get to know it and to appropriate it.

Faced with this observation and sensitive to these questions related to contemporary music when it is becoming increasingly rare in the programs of French orchestras (non-specialized), five orchestras applied in four regions of France have chosen to come together to offer a place and visibility to today’s musical creation.

This is how the Orchester national Avignon-Provence, the Orchester National de Bretagne, the Orchester national de Cannes, the Orchester symphonique de Mulhouse and the Orchester de Picardie Hauts-de-France, sharing this common desire to to put back on the front of the stage these pages which make the repertoire of tomorrow, have joined forces to form the Creative Consortium.

CHALLENGES OF THE CREATIVE CONSORTIUM

This unprecedented initiative in France (and in Europe) aims to ensure musical creation through commissions from contemporary composers and to bring it to life by programming these new opuses within the five French phalanxes.

The Creative Consortium will place an order for five works, one per season, which will be created during the upcoming scheduled seasons, the first creation being in June 2022. In turn, each orchestra will become the bearer of the musical project and ensure its creation. ; the others will guarantee the dissemination of these pieces by including them in their repertoire and by programming them within their concert seasons.

Each Consortium orchestra is free to propose composers, favoring a wide variety of aesthetics and projects: symphonic or concert pieces, works for young audiences and family concerts, interdisciplinary projects… these are all avenues to explore.

Few existing contemporary pieces for classical orchestra; it therefore seemed essential for the members of the Consortium to defend the idea of ​​a musical creation for chamber orchestra (wood by two) and to encourage the flourishing of this repertoire.

The five formations of the Creative Consortium being all

chamber orchestras, the orders will be adapted to

their nomenclature thus facilitating their use by member orchestras as well as by similar ensembles in France and Europe.

If the commissioned work requires the intervention of a solo musician, each orchestra will favor the same performer, favoring the sharing of production costs, the distribution of the work and the means of communication.

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE CREATIVE CONSORTIUM

At the invitation of the constituent members, the Consortium can expand to other training courses for the duration of an order or permanently if they adhere to the specifications defined above. The presence of new permanent member(s) will increase the longevity of the Creative Consortium by the same amount so as to allow each orchestra to carry a project on its tour.

Also, the partners can, beyond the five orders, act on other creations in two or three, or share the works created by each: thus the Consortium will create a real catalog of works to share with the members and orchestras in France or abroad.

The Creative Consortium is a starting point for creating links between orchestras. The commission of five joint works will develop exchanges on the life of member orchestras in the regions and the sharing of ideas, from programming to cultural action.

Finally, by regularly including contemporary works in their programming, the orchestras will invite today’s and tomorrow’s audiences to witness this contemporary creation, in its plurality and inventiveness.

*

FIRST ORDERS

Michael Levinas, Concerto for cello and orchestra Co-commission Orchester national Avignon-Provence and Orchester national de Cannes

CREATION TOUR SCHEDULE

Friday, June 3, 2022

World premiere

AVIGNON PROVENCE NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
Debora Waldman, direction
Henri Demarquette, cello
Opera Grand Avignon / Avignon

Thursday, October 27, 2022

NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF BRITTANY
Fiona Monbet, direction
Henri Demarquette, cello

Rennes Opera

Saturday, December 3, 2022

CANNES NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

Benjamin Levy, direction
Henri Demarquette, cello
Debussy Theater – Palace of Festivals and Congresses of Cannes

*

FIRST ORDERS

Sarah Lianne Lewis, The Island of Never Too Late Commissioned by the Orchester National de Bretagne

Sunday, March 12, 2023

World premiere

NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF BRITTANY La Seine Musicale –
Paris vanessa wagnerpiano
NNnarrator

Spring 2023

BBC NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF WALES

*

THE PARTICIPANTS :

National Orchestra of Avignon-Provence

represented by Alexis Labat, Managing Director

National Orchestra of Brittany

represented by Marc Feldman, Managing Director

Cannes National Orchestra

represented by Jean-Marie Blanchard, Managing Director

Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra

represented by Guillaume Hébert, General Manager

Orchester de Picardie – National Orchestra in the Hauts-de-France region

represented by Pierre Brouchoud, Managing Director