Violist Christophe Desjardins is willingly and passionately involved in two complimentary spheres: creation, for which he is an interpreter much sought after by international standing composers, and having the repertoire of his instrument opened to the widest range of audience.
As a soloist, he has premiered works by Berio, Boulez, Boesmans, Jarrell, Fedele, Nunes, Manoury, Pesson, Levinas, Harvey, Widmann, Stroppa, Cresta, Sebastiani and Rihm.
He plays as a soloist with such orchestras as the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the NDR, WDR and SWR Sinfonie Orchestern, the Orchestra of the Toscanini Foundation, the National Orchestra of Lyon, the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra and many other ensembles and orchestras throughout Europe .
After his solo appearance with the Théâtre de la Monnaie of Brussels , he became a member of the Ensemble InterContemporain.
His discography includes Diadèmes by Marc-André Dalbavie, under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Surfing by Philippe Boesmans, AssonanceIV and …someleavesII… by Michael Jarrell, LesLettresenlacéesII by Michaël Levinas and SequenzaVI by Luciano Berio, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.
His CD Voix d’Alto (Viola voices), dedicated to the performance of Luciano Berio and Morton Feldman’s works, was published in January, 2005, with the label Aeon; it has since received the most prestigious acclaim from the French press: Diapason d’Or, 4F from Télérama, Choc du Monde de la Musique.
In order to make music be discovered and perceived in a different way, he has created productions involving other arts (poetry, dance, video…): Once upon a time the viola, Viola/Multiples, Four Fragments for Harold, Violist Songs…
Christophe Desjardins plays a viola by Francesco Goffriller made in Venice around 1720.
He teaches at the Hochschule für Musik DEtmold (Germany) and at the CNSM in Lyon
Christophe Desjardins
through the years
1962 |
Born in Caen |
|---|---|
1982 |
Enters the CNSM (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique), in Serge Collot’s class |
1983 |
First Prize of viola, unanimously awarded |
1984 |
Paris, Salle Gaveau, Harold en Italie by Hector Berlioz, with the orchestra of the Conservatoire de Paris |
1985 |
Enters the Hochschule der Künste , Berlin , in Bruno Giuranna’s class. |
1986 |
Prize winner of the International Competition Maurice Vieux Solo Violist at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels |
1990 |
Brussels , Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bartok’s viola concerto, with the Symphonic Orchestra of La Monnaie Becomes a member of the Ensemble InterContemporain |
1992 |
Recording of Diadèmes by Marc-André Dalbavie, conducted by Pierre Boulez |
1995 |
Recording of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VI for Deutsche Grammophon |
1996 |
Milan , world premiere of L’Orizzonte di Elettra, a concerto by Ivan Fedele |
1997 |
Amsterdam, world premiere of Alternatim by Luciano Berio at the Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall (New York), Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Automne — Cité de la Musique, Paris |
2000 |
Viola Academy , in the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence , world premiere of the version for 7 violas of Messagesquisse by Pierre Boulez Paris, Rencontres Internationales de l’Alto, world premiere of …more leaves… by Michael Jarrell Meeting with writer Richard Millet Dijon (Festival Why Note), world premiere of Lettres enlacées II by Michaël Levinas |
2001 |
Cité de la Musique, production of Once upon a time the viola Mozart, Symphonie concertante, Orchestre de chambre de Wallonie |
2002 |
Venice Biennale, world of Improvisation II-Portrait by Emmanuel Nunes Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, production Violist Songs |
2003 |
Matthias Pintscher Portrait, Midis Musicaux, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris Recital and Master-class teaching at Julliard School , New York Paris (Radio-France), international premiere of Jubilus, a concerto by Jonathan Harvey Recitals in Strasbourg (Musica), Lisbon (Gulbenkian), Witten (Neue Kammermusik) |
2004 |
Paris, Châtelet, Marco Stroppa, Nous sommes l’air, pas la terre… viola and accordion, world premiere Cité de la Musique (Paris), cycle Bach/Berio Voci, Sequenza VI, Bach’s Suite played on a tenor viola Brussels, Ars Musica, world premiere of Fetzen (abstract), by Wolfgang Rihm, for viola and accordion Basle , Portrait Berio/Feldman and viola, Basler Madrigalisten, Collegium Novum Paris , world premiere of Eclipsis by Patrick Marcland, for viola, trumpet and electronics Lisbon , Teatro Nacional Sao Carlo, The Feldman Project: Rothko Chapel, The Viola in my life Köln, Romanischer Sommer, Portrait Georg Kröll, solo pieces and chamber music Hamburg , NDR Singonie Orchester, world premiere of the cycle Lichtstudien, by and with Jörg Widmann |
2005 |
CD Viola voices (Aeon): Berio, Feldman. Awarded by French critics: Diapason d’or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 4F from Télérama Paris, XXe Théâtre, world premiere of Waves by Denis Cohen, for viola and ensemble Paris, Cité de la Musique, French premiere of Tenebrae by Matthias Pintscher |