the first edition of the Toulouse Festival
The first edition of the Toulouse Festival is announced for July 2022, could we tell you about the origin of this project and the main lines of the program?
Yvan CASSAR: The paternity of this project goes to Julien Martineau. It’s a fantastic idea to bring a classic mid-summer festival to Toulouse, to offer something new around excellence and an open program with song, musicals, jazz, world music.
We are very happy and fulfilled to meet all these influences and to offer the public programs between tradition and popular innovation. Popular does not mean badly done, on the contrary it is essential to defend quality music and performers of excellence, while mixing styles with the pleasure of awakening and marveling the public.
We have the chance to perform in exceptional places in the heart of the city of Toulouse, where we will have the pleasure of sharing excellent but above all accessible music. The idea of this festival is to offer the public the opportunity to spend musical evenings of absolute happiness.
Why launch this festival in Toulouse? What is your personal relationship with this city?
Yvan CASSAR: It was Julien who, as a Toulousain, wanted to create this festival here. For me as a Breton, coming back to Toulouse also means a lot because it’s my second favorite city, since my great story with Claude Nougaro. I worked with him for almost 10 years, until the end of his life, and I have unforgettable memories in his apartment on the banks of the Garonne. He made me discover this city and its incredible artistic richness. I remember this incredible love at first sight with the Orchester national du Capitole, with Michel Plasson and Claude Nougaro reunited as part of a concert at the Halle aux Grains where we played this extraordinary song that is “Toulouse”. . Participating in this great festival in the heart of summer is a great responsibility, an honor but above all an absolute happiness.
Julien MARTINEAU: Yvan does me a great honor by calling me Toulouse! Although Argenteuillais by birth, I have been from Toulouse by adoption and by heart for more than 20 years now! To propose this festival seemed obvious to me after this unprecedented health crisis. Leading this adventure with Yvan was also obvious, Yvan embodying in my eyes, beyond his collaborations with the greatest, the incarnation of the musician without borders, as comfortable in classical as in pop, with for only course the good music.
One of the highlights of this first edition will be the concert on July 16 at the Prairie des Filtres, maybe we will introduce ourselves this evening? This concert will be an opportunity to reunite with the Orchester national du Capitole with Julien Clerc: how did you come up with this collaboration?
Yvan CASSAR: This evening of July 16 is open to all and will present a mix of aesthetics around a real musical journey. We will hear French music (Carmen), Russian (Tchaikovsky), we will also go to Italy between the opera and the music of Nino Rota. We will then join Spain, between classical music and song, with in particular the famous Aranjuez Concerto. It is a journey that will allow us during these stages to discover many singers, instrumentalists, soloists in a popular and accessible outdoor program.
We needed a representative of the heritage of French song and it seemed to us that Julien Clerc was the ideal artist to bring generations together. It has obviously been part of tradition and excellence for several decades: we all have in mind an air from a song by Julien Clerc, because his work has marked our musical heritage.
Natalie Dessay also gives us the pleasure of her visit where she will sing a Spanish song and we will be happy to present on July 17 a complete program around the musical.
During the festival, we will find artists such as Julien Clerc, Lambert Wilson or Julie Depardieu, how did the exchanges with these personalities take place?
Julien MARTINEAU: I have been an admirer of Lambert Wilson for a long time: at the cinema, at the theater or at the concert as during his magnificent performance with the ONCT in Lélio or the return to life by Berlioz.
Lambert organizing a festival himself, he immediately responded with Bruno Fontaine, pianist, composer and genius musical director.
As for Julie Depardieu, we met at Radio France. Her love of classical music allowed us to complete the creation of a marvelous musical tale by Thierry Huillet on a text by Clara Cernat, the first performance of which will be given on July 10.
This first edition is very ambitious in its programming, what are your attendance goals?
Yvan CASSAR: The public must come in large numbers because creating a new festival these days is a huge job that requires courage. This is something new and important, which we must salute and I hope that we will have as many people from Toulouse with us as possible, especially for the big evening of July 16 at the Prairie des Filtres. I hope that the people of Toulouse will want to share this great enthusiasm with us so that this first edition will be a great and great success.
The Aïda Association supports the Toulouse Festival, how was this relationship built?
Yvan CASSAR: For my part, I retain the historic support of the Aïda Association for the Orchestra. Not being an artist from Toulouse, I am very grateful for the work and the success of this association that I was able to discover through my many experiences with the orchestra. From my first years with Michel Plasson and Claude Nougaro, Aïda supported us with an enthusiasm and determination that is very important for us artists. It is fundamental that people from the economic fabric provide the culture; we need culture, artists and thank you to the patrons of Aïda for participating in this. This takes on its full meaning today with the creation of this new festival, after a difficult period for artists and the entire cultural sector. I find it exceptional that people ask for this approach after the difficulties experienced in recent months.
Julien MARTINEAU: The relationship with Aïda began with a meeting during a concert that I gave with the ONCT with the premiere of the 1st concerto by Raffaele Calace. Vincent Lauga, general delegate of Aïda, had proposed to me within the framework of the solidarity sponsorship of Aïda to meet people in professional retraining. During the preparation of this meeting, we talked about the Toulouse Festival, its aspirations to make classical music, jazz, world music accessible to the greatest number by associating pop in particular. The ONCT being at the heart of the festival’s programming, the common vision of sharing the passion for music with as many people as possible led Aïda and the Toulouse Festival to work together!
The search for sponsors is an important issue for the budgetary balance of this first edition, how is your sponsorship offer structured? More generally, how do you view corporate sponsorship?
Yvan CASSAR: We feel the fervor on the part of the public, patrons and teams. It is very important to communicate between artists and audiences, we must never forget that we, the artists, are fragile and it is very important to be together and to seek to federate the greatest number around projects of excellence. This rapprochement between artistic and economic actors is really essential and helps us to have a better world.
Julien MARTINEAU: Our sponsorship offer offers both enhancement and visibility actions to our patrons. From the presence of their logo on our communication media, to the organization of cocktails around a concert for their customers/partners, the field of possibilities is vast. Corporate sponsorship in the current period has become inseparable from the organization of major cultural events. And it is obviously a great chance that so many large companies deployed in Toulouse take such an interest in culture and in particular in music. And Aïda is the result!
One last word ?
Yvan CASSAR: Come many! We really want to make this first edition a success. From July 8 to 24, everyone is welcome to have fun and especially on Saturday July 16, for this exceptional evening in a unique place on the banks of the Garonne with many surprises and artists. I hope that the inhabitants of Toulouse will have as much pleasure in coming to applaud and support us as we will have had in defining this magnificent project. Thank you for allowing us to be able to dream together!
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