Baroque gesture – singing gesture

Marie Arnaud Snakkers was born in Paris. As a graduate of the National School of Decorative Arts (Paris) and of the Early Music Centre Conservatory (Geneva) in baroque opera singing, she successfully marries this double focus – music and visual arts – in her work.

As part of her musical studies, Arnaud Snakkers trained in early opera and baroque gestures with Béatrice Cramoix. Since then, she promotes and demonstrates this rather peculiar, but powerful art. Although rarely taught, baroque body language gives the singer, or speaker, precise tools for expressing themselves in public.

Arnaud Snakkers has also participated in contemporary theatre projects, notably under the direction of Fred Guittet in Lyon.

As a mezzo-soprano Arnaud Snakkers has participated in numerous projects, with vocal polyphony or solo, of which some involved gesturing. She is at ease with various types of music, ranging from medieval to renaissance to baroque, jazz and current music.

In 2017, for her company La Conférence des Oiseaux, she created a musical performance called The Strange Beating of the Fan in which gesture occupies a prominent place. This creation slakes her yearning for unrestricted artistic poetry and her avid attraction to laughter.

Day Sessions for String Orchestra (with Saskia Filippini)

Day Sessions for a Cello Ensemble

Chamber Music Workshop at Hindetmith Foundation in Blonay

Born in Paris into a family of Genevan musicians, Jean-Marc Binet studied in Rome (Italy), Geneva (Switzerland), and Mannheim (Germany). He took advanced courses at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena in Italy as well as in Finland and England. In 1986, he moved to Geneva where he divides his time between work with orchestra and chamber music.

Since 1992 Binet teaches at the Conservatory in Ferney-Voltaire (France) and at L’AMAmusique. He is particularly interested in what it means to teach music today.

Since 2002 he leads the junior strings orchestra at Gex and in 2015 he took on the Symphony Orchestra at Ferney-Voltaire. As from 2005 he has been responsible for the Music and Dance Workshop in Evolène, Valais. He collaborates regularly with several chamber music ensembles, with which he gives concerts in France, Switzerland and Italy.

L’AMAmusique Symphonic Orchestra

Andrea Bottaro graduated from the Conservatory of Vicenza, and then sharpened his skills at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM) with the accomplished violinist and pedagogue Corrado Romano.

At the age of 20, he won the solo violin competition of the Orchestre de l’Europe and then collaborated with the well-known American and European conductors and soloists (L. Maazel, C. Dutoit, Z. Mehta, A . Jordan, Y. Temirkanov, E. Imbhal, V. Repin, M. Vengerov), in prestigious places throughout Europe and Asia.

Bottaro has worked with the Zürich Chamber Orchestra and the Filarmonica Toscanini Orchestra.

He is currently solo violin in the Orchestra dell’Accademia Musica of Vincenza (Dir Filippo Maria Bressan) and the Orchestra e Coro Città di Vicenza.

Since 2014, Bottaro has worked with the ensembles I Solisti Filarmonici Italiani, the Filarmonica della Scala Orchestra and the Geneva Chamber Orchestra.

At L’AMAmusique Andrea Bottaro teaches violin and chamber music, and is also artistic director of the Orchestra.

Orchestra Conducting

Sébastien Brugière studied at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM) where he obtained a triple masters degree: orchestra conducting (he studied under Laurent Gay), violin (soloist degree), and pedagogy. He also trained with well-known conductors such as Jorma Panula, John Deroyer, Thierry Fischer, Amaury Closel, Alexander Myrat and Patrick Davin. Under Michel-Marc Gervais and Celso Antunes he studied choir conducting.

From 2008 to 2017 he was artistic and musical director of the University of Geneva Choir and Orchestra. In 2013, he created the University Chamber Choir with which he has conducted a varied and demanding repertoire, including a cappella. Since its inception in 2014, he is the conductor and artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of Versoix (OCV). In the same year he became conductor of EVIR (Vocal and Instrumental Rolle). In 2017, he founded Ensemble Synopsie, which specialises in a symphonic repertoire transcribed for all. In opera, he has directed Gounod’ Faust, Traviata, Puccini’s La Bohème and Le Villi, Il Seraglio, Germaine Tillion’s operetta Le Verfügbar aux Enfers and Carmen. He regularly assists with OPERAMI in Geneva.

In addition, Brugière has conducted numerous orchestras in Europe (Switzerland, France, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic) as well as in Russia. As a violinist, he has frequently been invited to play with orchestras such as the Lyon Opera Orchestra, the Auvergne Orchestra, the Lyon National Orchestra, the Zurich Symphony Orchestra and the Swiss Philharmonic Orchestra, touring extensively in France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Scotland, Monaco, Greece, Canada and China.

Coaching for Choral Conducting

Natacha Casagrande was born in Geneva. The first instrument she took up was the violin. Later, she began singing and also studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Music in Geneva.

From 1990 to 2002, Casagrande was a professional member of the Vocal Ensemble of Lausanne (EVL) as a chorister, soloist and assistant conductor to Michel Corboz.

She directed the EVL in concerts in Lausanne, Fribourg, Geneva, Pontigny Abbey, Festivals d’Ambronay and Rheingau, and the Festival of Early Music in Lyon.

Casagrande directs the Cantus Laetus in Geneva, a vocal ensemble of thirty or so singers since 1995 and the Bach Circle of Geneva, a great oratorio choir, since 1999.

Occasionally, Casagrande conducts choral groups in Geneva and French-speaking Switzerland as well as the Toulon Music Festival and Wuppertal.

In addition to her activity as head and singer, Casagrande devotes her time to teaching (singing and choral conducting). As from September 2004 she has taught choral conducting at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM). She also gives summer workshops (Abbaye de Noirlac, Hindemith Foundation) and is regularly invited by the Vaud and Valais associations of choral conductors to lead workshops for conducting and choral singing.

Sight-reading Workshop for Pianists

François Creux was born in Lausanne in 1955. He obtained his degree at the Neuchâtel Conservatory where he studied under Eduardo Vercelli and received a piano virtuosity with distinction award.

Creux won several scholarships among which de Agostini, Rotary and City of Geneva. He studied in the United States with Leon Fleisher and received a Master of Music at Peabody Conservatory of Baltimore.

He performed in numerous concerts and solo recitals with orchestras and chamber music ensembles. Creux also worked with Contrechamps (Geneva) from its inception. In the context of this ensemble he created several concerts specially designed to introduce contemporary music to youth.

Creux teaches piano since 1974 at the CPMDT (Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, Danse et Théâtre). In 1986, he began teaching sight-reading at both CPMDT and at the Jacques Dalcroze Institute.

Day Sessions for strings Orchestra (with Jean-Marc Binet)

Saskia Filippini was born in Lugano. She studied at the Geneva Conservatory with Corrado Romano, gratuated with with honours and won First Prize for virtuosity.

Filippini then refined her skills with Sandor Végh and obtained a first prize for quartet in the Colmar Competition. She is a founding member of Contrechamps, a contemporary music ensemble.

She teaches at the CPMDT (Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, Danse et Théâtre)) and Studio Kodaly, she participates in a number of educational projects.

Filippini played solo violin in the Geneva Chamber Orchestra for several years, and at the same time trained on the baroque violin.

Today, Filippini combines her work as a chamber musician with teaching. At L’AMAmusique she teaches violin classes and offers experience in chamber music that covers a wide repertoire and that corresponds to the needs and expectations of amateur musicians.

Sight-reading Workshop for Wind Instruments

Patrick Foresi won several prizes for oboe at conservatories in Lyon and Paris before taking First Prize in 1992 for virtuosity at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM). He holds a teaching degree for oboe and a degree in baroque oboe from the Early Music Centre of the Geneva Conservatory. Foresi also does choral singing (Vocal Ensemble of Lausanne, among others), chamber music, and orchestra music. In addition to teaching, performs in concerts playing diverse repertoires with various kinds of ensembles.

Foresi offers his students a wide-ranging musical experience but, above all, seeks to communicate his enjoyment of playing music.

Custom Accompaniment on Keyboards (piano, organ, harpsichord)

Lyric Workshop

Natalia Guevara took up classical dance and contemporary dance training at a young age before studying theatre at the Universidad de Arte in Cordoba, Argentina. She was awarded Second Prize for her lead role in the film ‘Cielo’ (1989) at the Biennale of Buenos Aires.

After arriving in Europe, Guevara joined the troupe of the Teatro delle Radici in Lugano with which she participated in the Theaterforum Kreuzber in Berlin, at the Magadalena Projects festival in Cardfiff, at the Odin Teatret Festival in Holtebro and tours in Switzerland and France.

After a career in dance and theater, Guevara completed her artistic training with lyric singing and in 2007 obtained an honours degree in singing at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM).

In 2009, Guevara was invited by Leonardo García Alarcón to dance in his show Monteverdi Piazzolla; she toured with the show in France from 2009 to 2016.

As a singer, Guevara has given concert performances and recitals of airs and opera arias, with a focus on the Spanish classical repertoire. She has also given recitals at the Auditorium Ezequiel Soria Argentina in Geneva and at the Laboule Festival in France.

Guevara was a soloist in various projects, including the Chœur de Cartigny, the Chœur Corazon and the Chœur de Meinier at the Amadeus Festival 2016. She was invited to sing with the famous Brazilian singer Toquinho during the Festival d’Île de France in the Théâtre de Fontainebleau.

Passionate about teaching and musical education, Guevara teaches singing since 2007 at L’AMAmusique in collaboration with Katya Kostova as pianist-accompanist.

Since 2017 Guevara is responsible for the Lyric Workshop.

Workshop for a Flute Ensemble

Liliane Jaques was born in Genève. She studied flute and obtained her virtuosity at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève.

From 1974 to 2013 she taught at the CPMDT (Conservatoire Populaire de Musique Danse et Théâtre).
From 1999 to 2015 she created and directed a flute orchestra, Yoka’s Flutes. This ensemble has performed in Switzerland, France, Italy and Slovakia.

In addition to teaching, her career as a soloist and chamber (duo, trio, wind quintet etc.) Jaques has performed in numerous concerts from classical to jazz in both Europe and India. In the course of her artistic journey, she came across Argentine tango for which she has a particular fondness (Quintet by Narciso Saul and International Tango Quintet (Piazzola).

Jaques now plays with the Wind Quintet of Leman.

Worshop on discovering Greek Song

Ana Koti was born in Crete in 1980 and lives in Geneva since 2007. She works as a singer and a voice teacher. She trained in singing (classical music and Greek traditional music) and graduated from the Hellinikon Conservatory in Athens. Koti also earned a degree in professional acting in Greece; she is trained in jazz vocals and pop music and regularly gives concerts in Switzerland and Greece.

In 2016, she created a workshop about Greek song for L’AMAmusique students.

Koti has participated in a number of theatrical and musical creations; she regularly performs in concert in Geneva and Greece.

For more information: http://annakoti.com

Four Lectures: Struggling to Appreciate the Place of Music in Society

Gilles Landini was born in Geneva. He studied piano with Susanna Sierro-Rigoli, then at the Geneva Conservatory under Henri Gautier.

In 1987, Landini won the Gabrielle Agostini Scholarship. He then refined his skills with Edith Fischer and won a First Prize with honours and congratulations from the Jury at the SSPM (Swiss Society of Musical Pedagogy). That same year he won the Orpheus competition in Zurich.

Landini performs in Switzerland and abroad. At the request of Music / Hope, founded by Miguel-Angel Estrella, he also gives concerts in Bellechasse and Bochuz prisons.

In addition, he teaches courses in Geneva at the Conservatoire de Neuchâtel in music history and music listening and exploration for amateur music lovers.

Landini is also a professor at the Swiss Society of Musical Pedagogy where he trains professional students. He is an expert for this institution and member of its Committee in Geneva.

From September 1996 to June 2001, Landini hosted a weekly series on the programme Zig-Zag Café of the TSR (Télévision Suisse Romande) designed to make music accessible and comprehensible to a wide audience.

In 2004, Landini’s work was at the centre of a musical travel documentary called Helvetica that was filmed by Yan Pröfrök in the French-speaking part of Switzerland for the television channel Mezzo.

Landini also directed Blue Beard Castle (2001), The Human Voice (2003) and Ginevra degli Almieri, created by Raffaello Diambrini-Palazzi (2004).

He has recorded several critically acclaimed records.

APiano-singing Workshop on discovering the Lied

Marina Lodygensky began her training with Suzanne Danco in Florence. She earned her singing diploma from the Geneva Conservatory where she studied with Eric Tappy. At the Lausanne Conservatory she worked with Gary Magby and got her soloist degree with honours. Lodygensky then studied with Margreet Honig at the Amsterdam Conservatory and Malcolm Walker in Paris.

Lodygensky performed various operatic roles at the Grand Theatre in Geneva and the Operas of Paris, Rouen, Wexford, Tourcoing, Dijon, Caen etc.

She regularly sings in recital, concert and oratorio. Along side her operatic activities she teaches singing.

Lodygensky serves as Director of L’AMAmusique Association and opera singing teacher.

Valentine Mercier studied at Geneva’s University of Music (HEM) where she worked with Sébastien Risler (1995-2001) and received musical education and piano teaching degrees. She earned her master’s degree in chamber music (2004) while completing studies at the Conservatoire de Neuchâtel. From 2004 to 2007, Mercier trained with Jean Fassina in Paris.

Mercier won several scholarships, notably Hans Wilsdorf, Simon I. Patiño, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris) and Fondation Irène Dénéréaz (Vevey). During this period she also worked on composition. In 2010, Mercier founded the quartet IGAPO (album, May 2013, VDE-GALLO), as well as the PETIT ORCHESTRE DE L’EST, for which she composes, arranges and with which she performs regularly.

On stage, Mercier tackles a wide repertoire ranging from 1850 to the present, either in chamber music or as a soloist. She willingly explores all musical styles and enjoys encounters between different forms of artistic expression. For the past few years she has been experimenting with clarinet trios (especially with S. Filippini on violin and P. Erhinger on clarinet).

Mercier’s most recent compositions are Ekkaideka for four keyboards (Geneva 2013) and Litoria, for cello and piano, commissioned by the ARRTO SOFIA SINGS Festival (Bulgaria, 2014). An adaptation of Litoria for clarinet and piano was done in Paris in June 2015. A new version of Ekkaideka was performed in January 2017 as part of Geneva’s University of Music (HEM). Mercier is currently composing a series of songs around Serbian poems for singers and a small instrumental ensemble. She lives and teaches in Geneva.

See also:

www.petitorchestredelest.ch

https://www.facebook.com/petitorchestredelest

https://www.facebook.com/IGAPO-536549566396543/

http://mx3.ch/mv4tet

Photo credit : © Stéphanie Argerich

Jazz Workshop

Jean-Françoise Rouaud studied piano in Geneva and obtained a professional diploma from SSPM (Swiss Society of Musical Pedagogy) in 1994. After playing with various chamber music ensembles (trio, vocal repertoire), he devoted his time to improvised music, in particular to accompaniment for shows.

Rouaud’s teaching experience includes the classical repertoire, but he also teaches an introduction to improvisation and jazz.

Dance at L’AMAmusique : Argentine Tango regular course

Music seminar for Tango dancers

Claire Rüfenacht is both a tango dancer and a musician who plays in various tango ensembles. She is also interested in art therapy; her main job is in the field of cultural communication.

Rüfenacht teaches Argentine tango at L’AMAmusique and tango at the Cocogardel dance school(Good Move) in Lausanne.

She taught music to students at the House of Art and Culture in Plan-les-Ouates for six years, and to students at the College de Saussure for three years.

Rüfenacht gives tango workshops with a number of guest dancers such as Mario Di Camilis(Buenos Aires), Pedro Ratto (Buenos Aires), Yvan Schulz (Geneva), Emmanuel Castan (Geneva) Emanuel Saccomano (Buenos Aires), Thomas Poucet (Paris), Abdelhak Briki (Paris) and Lucas Di Giorgio (Buenos Aires). She pursues her training with regular trips to Buenos Aires and at international tango festivals in Europe. Rüfenacht creates bridges between tango music and dance through her expressive and educational music workshops for tango dancers.

On several occasions Rüfenacht participated in the choreography of dance performances (Fête de la Musique, milonga des Sciences et de Sens, Club Zou, Les Estivales de Meyrin, MuSaCa, Gala minor of the Fondation Henri-Dubois, Ferrière Dinu Lipati, Festival Antigel). In the spring of 2011, she created a multidisciplinary show with students from Collège de Saussure. In 2012 and 2014, she danced with Julio Balmaceda during her master classes in Geneva (Kap Danse).

She is the founding pianist of the Tango Sueno Quintet (2001-2008), and currently plays in two sets: Trio … Y su orquesta with Pedro Ratto and Emmanuel Castan on guitars and Alain Ray as guest bandonéon player, and in Cuarteto A Fuego Lento with Alain Ray on bandonéon, Omer Sipahi on violin and Tomas Fernandez on contrabass.

On account of Rüfenacht’s musical and dance experience, she is regularly invited to provide the music for milongas in held in Geneva (CAS, Club ZOU, Jardin anglais, Kap’danse, Milonga gourmande, Tango mon amour, …..), Lausanne (El Tango, Estación tango), Catania (Sicily, Milonga da Scenario), Paris (Le Chantier) and Buenos Aires (El Gardel Medellin), as well as at festivals and marathons in Geneva, Brussels, Amsterdam, Sisteron, Mannheim, Köln and Sitges. As a member of the Openmilonga Association she organises the Perce-Oreille Marathon, an international tango event in Geneva.

Sensitive to the therapeutic properties of art, and to the benefits that creation brings to the individual, as well as to society as a whole, since 2014 Rüfenacht trained in art therapy. In 2015, she obtained a Certificate at the Atelier de Genève, in Intermodal Expressive Art Therapy. She obtained a professional degree with a specialisation in dance-therapy in September 2017.

Orchestra Workshop : Tango Orchestra

Luis Semeniuk was born in 1979 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). He studied piano at the Conservatory of Music in Banfield (Argentina). He then joined Dominique Weber‘s class at the University of Music (HEMU) in Sion, Switzerland, and in 2005, obtained his degree in concert with honours.

Semeniuk’s early interest in composition lead him to join the contemporary music ensemble of the conservatory. He studied composition and orchestral conducting and participated in numerous premieres with young contemporary composers. As an accompanying pianist, his activities also extend to chamber music.

In Buenos Aires, Semeniuk studied tango piano with Nicolas Ledesma. In 2003, he co-founded the Tango Indigo quartet as a pianist and arranger. He is also interested in improvisation and jazz.

Semeniuk has performed in Switzerland, France, Italy and Argentina, in solo recital, chamber music, and as a soloist with orchestra.

Listening to Contemporary Musics

Christine Severi holds a degree in flute from the Conservatoire de Musique de Lausanne and a BA in Musicology and Italian from the University of Geneva. In 1999 she earned a Masters in Musicat Geneva’s University of Music (HEM).

Severi teaches flute in music schools in Switzerland and France, and at the CPMDT (Popular Conservatory of Music, Dance and Theatre) in Geneva. She has collaborated with L’AMAmusiquesince 1996. Since 2001, she also teaches music at the Cycle d’Orientation in Geneva.

In addition to these teaching activities, Severi performs with various chamber music ensembles (trio with harp or piano, string quartet).

Since 2008, she collaborates with the Contrechamps ensemble by developing pedagogical documents aimed at making contemporary music accessible to students (13-16 years old) at the Cycle d’Orientation level. This partnership led to the creation of interdisciplinary projects such as Music and Birds (2014), Silence, We Buzz! (2016). Her work to make contemporary music accessible, this time for adults students at L’AMAmusique, with the course Listening to Contemporary Music.