Laurence Equilbey
The 2009/10 season shows Laurence Equilbey’s versatile talent, as a conductor in the pit of the Brussels Philharmonic, in Schumann’s “Le Paradis et la Péri”, or at the head of the Cannes and Rouen Orchestras, as well as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, in Schubert’s orchestrated “Lieder”. She also leads an a cappella “Rachmaninov” programme, whose recording is due in June 2010.
Laurence Equilbey founded the accentus chamber choir, well-known as one of today most prestigious European choir. At the head of accentus, she regularly experiments the large repertoire, a capella or with orchestra. In particular she champions contemporary music, including creations at the Rouen Opera and the Cité de la Musique in Paris which both welcome Laurence Equilbey in residence.
On the operatic podium Laurence Equilbey conducts, among others : Rossini “Cenerentola” at the Aix-en-Provence Art Lyric Festival, Pascal Dusapin “Medeamaterial”, in particular at the Musica Festival in Strasbourg, “Les Tréteaux de Maître Pierre" by de Falla, “Bastian und Bastienne” by Mozart at the Rouen Opera and the Cité de la musique.
In 2009 she conducts the orchestra of “The Age of Enlightenment” in Aix-en-Provence, in a revival of the “Mozart Short Cuts” production (staged by Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïff), which she conducted in 2006.
The production of Britten’s “Albert Herring”, staged by Richard Brunel, received great acclaim in February and March 2009, at the Rouen Opera and at the Opéra Comique de Paris.
In 2011 she will conduct “The Magic Flute” by Mozart at the Avignon Opera and “Freischutz” by Weber at the Toulon Opera.
On the symphonic plan, she conducts orchestras such as the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Orchestre de Cannes, the Opera of Rouen’s Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic... In 2008, she conducted the Orchestre National de France and Aacentus in the “Requiem” by Fauré (recording Naïve) and in “Dona Eis” by Pascal Dusapin, and worked again with the Ensemble Instrumental “Ars Nova”.
In June 2009, she was at the head of the Lyon National Orchestra, in a Mendelssohn and a Mozart programme.
Laurence Equilbey is associated artist of the Ensemble orchestral de Paris for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 seasons. She will conduct the Ensemble orchestral de Paris and accentus together in 2010 in a Schubert programme at Cité de la musique in Paris and in Fauré “Requiem” at the Saint-Denis Festival.
Her many recordings, especially the outstanding Poulenc’s a capella work and Pascal Dusapin’s "Requiem(s)", have been widely acclaimed. She was also awarded a “Disque d’Or” in 2008 for "Transcriptions", which sold very well (more than 110,000 copies worldwide), and her interpretation of Haydn’s “Sept Dernières Paroles du Christ” is considered as a reference in the discography today.
Laurence Equilbey studied conducting orchestras and choirs in Paris, Vienna, London and Stockholm, with Swedish conductor Erik Erikson and Finnish conductor Jorma Panula.
She founded the educative department “le département supérieur pour jeune chanteurs l le jeune choeur de paris” for young singers at the Paris Regional Conservatory.
Together with accentus she created the European network “Tenso”.
She is artistic advisor at the Orchestre de Paris for their vocal activities and associated artist of the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence.
She was elected Musical Personality of the year 2000 by the Union of drama and music critique, Laureate 2003 of the Grand Prix of international music critique, “Chevalier de l’Ordre de l’Etoile Polaire”, International Music Personality in Sweden, and in 2006 Cultures France elected her “Créateur sans frontière” for classical and contemporary music.
www.laurenceequilbey.com
General agent : Véronique Jourdain Artists Management – www.veroniquejourdain.com