SPARK – sextet

Glittering sparks transformed into music: SPARK is a program of pure joie de vivre, in which the instruments rush and surge, glitter and dazzle, turning pure energy into sound. Together with pianist Paloma Kouider, BREEZE interprets effervescent virtuosic music by Ravel, Poulenc and Françaix, three great musical personalities of early modern Paris, as well as music by Karol Beffa and Guillaume Connesson, two creative minds of today’s Parisian music scene – their work merges classical music and modern pop culture. In this program, the unmistakably buzzing life of the cosmopolitan metropolis of Paris is set to music with finesse, wit and irony. SPARK is a rapturous program, whose enthusiasm hardly any listener, young or old, can resist.

SPARK

Karol Beffa (1973–) Blow Up (for piano, clarinet, oboe, flute and bassoon)

Jean Françaix (1912–1997) Wind Quintet No. 1 (1948)

I Andante tranquillo – Allegro assai

II Presto

III Tema con variazioni. Andante

IV Tempo di Marcia Francese

Guillaume Connesson (1970–) Techno Parade (for flute, clarinet and piano)

– Interval –

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) Le tombeau de Couperin, M. 68

I Prélude

II Fugue

III Menuet

IV Rigaudon

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) Sextet for Piano and Winds, Op. 100

I Allegro Vivace

II Divertissement: Andantino

III Finale: Prestissimo

with Paloma Kouider, piano

« It is splendid with intelligence, with musical sense, with personality. » (Gérard Manonni, Classica)

Awarded « Révélation Classique » by ADAMI and laureate of the « Fondation Banque Populaire », the French pianist Paloma Kouider studied wih Serguei Markarov in Paris and Elisso Wirssaladze in Firenze and Avedis Kouyoumdjian, one of Stanislas Neuhaus former students, in Vienna.

Soon performing in renowned festivals, she did not forget her other passion, Literature, which she cultivated at the Sorbonne University in Paris. A passion that is shared by her colleagues of the Trio Karénine, winner of the 62nd ARD Competition in Munich and today formed by violinist Charlotte Juillard and cellist Louis Rodde.

Some outstanding musical personalities durably inspired Paloma’s musical path: the Ysaÿe Quartet, Hatto Beyerle, Menahem Pressler, Alfred Brendel, Ferenc Rados, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Paul Badura-Skoda as well as Claude Helffer regarding contemporary music and Stéphane Béchy for early music.

Recent highlights include concerts in New-York’s Frick Collection, London’s Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Laeiszhall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Venice’s Palazetto Bru Zane… She regularly appears at international festivals such as Festival de Menton, Radio-France Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, La Roque d’Anthéron, Tokyo’s Folles Journées, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele, Saint-Petersbourg Piano Festival…

Paloma’s interest for contemporary music was awarded by the André Hoffmann Prize in Gstaad’s Sommets musicaux and leads her to premiere pieces by Fazil Say, Benoît Menut, Benjamin Attahir and Raphaël Sévère.

As a keen chamber musician, Paloma’s partners include Anastasia Kobekina, Alexandra Soumm, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Aurélien Pascal, the Armida Quartet, Caroline Widmann, Patrick Messina, Lola Descours, Liya Petrova …

Her recording’s activity has been very intense since 2016, 10 CDS were published for various labels, all distinguished by the international press. Next albums will be devoted to contemporary Triple concertos with Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, Russian soul with bassoonist Lola Descours and a solo album will be released in Autumn 2021.

Involved in charity projects creating opportunities through the arts, she co-founded a non-profit organization named Esperanz’Arts in 2012.

More and more interested in education, Paloma was invited to teach chamber music in the Royal Northern College of Music of Manchester (UK) as well as in many master-classes programs.