Le Consort graces us with his presence. The old stones of the Abbey of Léhon will ideally carry the bewitching sounds of „Ô Solitude“.
Justin Taylor
The young Franco-American musician won, at just 23 years of age, the First Prize at the prestigious Bruges International Harpsichord Competition. He also won the Audience Prize, the Alpha Prize and the EUBO Developping Trust Prize awarded to the most promising young European baroque musician. Justin is nominated at the 2017 Victoires de la musique classique in the category Instrumental Soloist Revelation. That same year, the Association Professionnelle de la Critique awards him the Prix Révélation Musicale.
Justin Taylor has played the harpsichord and the piano with passion since he was a child. After studying both instruments in his native Angers, Justin continued his studies at the CNSM in Paris in the classes of Roger Muraro for piano and Olivier Baumont and Blandine Rannou for harpsichord.
Justin Taylor has already made over a dozen recordings. His debut album, La Famille Forqueray (2016), has won several awards: CHOC de l’année Classica, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Qobuzissime… Continuum, dedicated to Scarlatti and Ligeti, is among the 5 best recordings 2018 of Le Monde newspaper. Equally at ease on the fortepiano and the harpsichord, Justin has recorded Mozart’s 17th concerto with Le Concert de La Loge (CHOC Classica). The young musician has also participated in Deutsche Grammophon’s Bach333 Complete Works by recording a double disc of little-known works by Bach. Justin is recording exclusively for the Alpha Classics label. The young musician has been heard in recital at the Louvre Auditorium, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Roque d’Anthéron Festival, the Folle Journée de Nantes and in many European cities. During the 2019/2020 season, Justin will make his debuts in Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya, Hyogo…) and in the United States (Washington, San Diego…). Justin Taylor has performed with numerous orchestras such as the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Picardie and the Mannheim Orchestra…
Justin Taylor does not forsake the chamber music repertoire. With his ensemble Le Consort, he won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2017 Val de Loire International Early Music Competition, presided over by William Christie. Alongside mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik, they recorded Venez chère ombre, a disc devoted to French cantatas. Opus 1, which presents the first complete trio sonatas by Jean-François Dandrieu, is awarded a Diapason d’or of the Year (Opus 1, Alpha Classics). The Consort is in residence at the Banque de France, the Fondation Royaumont and the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris. Justin Taylor is supported by the Safran Corporate Foundation.
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian began choral singing at the Montpellier Conservatory before joining the Maîtrise des Chantres at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. He was then admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris in Yves Sotin’s class and obtained his Licence unanimously. Sensitive to the diversity of the repertoires, he perfected his learning of the baroque repertoire as well as the Lieder and melody with Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl, Raphaël Pichon, Anne Le Bozec, Mireille Delunsch and Hartmüt Höll. He also participates in the creation of contemporary works by Philippe Raynaud and Isabelle Fraisse.
In 2015, he distinguished himself by winning the Prix Grand-Avignon at the first edition of the Concours Jeunes Espoirs de l’Opéra Grand Avignon. He was also named HSBC 2017 revelation of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. In 2019, he is invited to perform in duet with Philippe Jaroussky at the Victoires de la Musique Classique ceremony broadcast live on France 2.
Paul-Antoine performs as a soloist, in oratorio as well as in opera under the direction of renowned conductors such as Maxim Emalyanichev, Vincent Dumestre, Emmanuelle Haïm, Christophe Rousset, Damien Guillon, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Benoit Haller. He participates in numerous festivals such as the Festival de Saint-Denis, Aix-en-Provence, Handel-festspiele de Halle, Bachfest of Leipzig, Sablé-sur-Sarthe, Ambronay, and sings in prestigious venues such as Tokyo Opera City, the Theater an der Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Salle Gaveau, Arsenal de Metz, Opéra Grand Avignon, Opera de Nantes-Angers, Opéra National de Montpellier.
In the 19-20 season, he played the title role in Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista at the Opera de Rennes; Tolomeo and Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with English Touring Opera and Opera North respectively, Idraspe in Cavalli’s Erismena at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon in March 2020, Ottone in the Incoronazione di Poppea at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July 2020. In addition, his soloist participation in Shakespeare’s La Nuit des Rois premiered at the Comédie Française until May 2020.
Louise Pierrard
Louise Pierrard began playing the viola da gamba at the conservatory in Grenoble, her home town. After a year in the literary preparatory class at the Lycée Fénelon in Paris, she devoted herself fully to the study of her instrument and entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Philippe Pierlot’s class. In 2015, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree with honours. She continues her studies at the CNSM of Paris in Christophe Coin’s class and obtains her Master’s degree in 2017.
Louise Pierrard has had the opportunity to deepen her technique with violists such as Jordi Savall, Atsushi Sakaï, Guido Balestracci, Wieland Kuijken, Marianne Muller, Martin Bauer, Lucas Peres and Vittorio Ghielmi.
Louise Pierrard is a founding member of the Consort, a chamber music ensemble specializing in the two violin trio sonata. In June 2017, the Consort won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Concours International de Musique Ancienne du Val de Loire, chaired by William Christie. In 2018, Louise Pierrard records two discs for the Alpha Classics label with the Consort: Venez chère Ombre, based on French cantatas with mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik, released in January 2019, and unanimously acclaimed by critics (CHOC Classica, Choix de France Musique, Télérama, Libération, Figaro. …), as well as a second disc, Opus 1, based on the trio sonatas of Dandrieu and Corelli, released in September 2019 (DIAPASON d’Or of the Year). Louise Pierrard premiered David Chalmin’s piece Sept Particules live on Culturebox at the 2018 Deauville Easter Festival, a piece commissioned by the festival and the Singer Polignac Foundation. This work was recorded by the B-Records label for a record released in November 2018.
Louise Pierrard also plays with tenor Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro’s ensemble, I Gemelli, with whom she recorded a disc around Cozzolani’s Vespers (DIAPASON d’Or of the Year, CHOC Classica) and a second opus in chamber music around the singer and composer Francesco Rasi, to be released in 2020 on the Naïve label. She also plays in the Poème Harmonique orchestra conducted by Vincent Dumestre.
She has performed with these ensembles in Paris (Salle Cortot, Hôtel des Invalides…). ), at the Château de Versailles, at the Dijon Opera, at the Abbaye de Royaumont, in Geneva, at the Easter Festival in Deauville, at the Arsenal in Metz, at the MA Festival Brugge (BE), at the Sablé Festival, at the Pau Casals Foundation (ES), in Antwerp deSingel (BE), or at the Misteria Paschalia Festival in Krakow (PL)…
Le Consort will be present on Wednesday 5 August in the 2020 programme of the Festival Eté Musical à Dinan.
