Académie Voix Nouvelles: a collective opera creation experience

Yoan Héreau

At the end of his studies at the CNSMDP, Yoan Héreau joined the Académie de l’Opéra de Paris for three seasons as pianist and vocal coach.
He soon found himself involved in productions for major theaters, particularly in the field of contemporary opera, participating in the creation of works by major contemporary composers such as Georges Benjamin, Pascal Dusapin, Francesco Filidei and Kaija Saariaho.
At the same time, he pursues a fruitful career as a concert artist, recording several opuses for the Naïve and Mirare labels, and has been artistic director of the Parenthèses musicales de Saint-Maurice since 2019.

Raquel Camarinha

After completing her vocal studies in Portugal, Raquel Camarinha obtained her Master’s degree from the CNSMDP in 2011, followed by the DAI “Chant” and “Répertoire Contemporain et Création” in 2013. Winner of several international competitions, she was named Révélation Lyrique at the 2017 Victoires de la Musique awards. While developing an intense activity as a duettist with pianist Yoan Héreau, she has collaborated closely with composers such as B. Attahir, K. Saariaho, P. Dusapin and F. F. Baudelaire. Attahir, K. Saariaho, P. Dusapin and F. Filidei. Filidei. His album Life Story (Naïve, 2023) takes its name from the play of the same name by T. Adès, and includes a creation by B. Attahir, A Criança em ruínas. Attahir, A Criança em ruínas. This project was born out of the Royaumont Foundation’s incubator program.

Antoine Gindt

Director and producer, he has directed T&M since 1997, after co-directing Atem with Georges Aperghis (Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, 1992-2001). He has commissioned and produced numerous operas and musical performances (Aperghis, Bianchi, Dillon, Donatoni, Dubelski, Dusapin, Filidei, Goebbels, Lorenzo, Pesson, Rivas, Sarhan…) or contributed to premieres in France (Dusapin, Goebbels, Mitterer, Sciarrino, Zappa…).

He recently directed Eurydice, an experience of the dark by Dmitri Kourliandski to a poem by Nastya Rodionova (2020, Festival Aperto, Reggio Emilia), Explore! Awards (2020, Scène de recherche ENS Paris-Saclay), Voix in situ as part of the event Behind the scenes at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris (2019), La traición oral by Mauricio Kagel (2018, CETC – Teatro Colón Buenos Aires), 200 Motels by Frank Zappa (2018, Musica-Zénith de Strasbourg, Philharmonie de Paris), Sylvano Bussotti’s La Passion selon Sade (2017, Théâtre de Nîmes), creations by Iliade l’amour by Betsy Jolas (2016, CNSMDP / Philharmonie de Paris), Giordano Bruno by Francesco Filidei (2015, Casa da Música Porto) and Aliados a real-time opera by Sebastian Rivas (2013, T2G). In 2011-2012, he staged Ring Saga( Richard Wagner’sRing of the Nibelung, Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick’s version), a three-day show first performed at Casa da Música in Porto and then on tour. He also directed Wanderer, postscript, recital with Ivan Ludlow and Kalina Georgieva on lieder by W. Rihm, H. Eisler, R. Wagner and G. Pesson (2013), Pas Si by Stefano Gervasoni (2008), Kafka-Fragmente by György Kurtág (2007), Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (2007, 2009), Consequenza, a tribute to Luciano Berio (2006), Pascal Dusapin’s Medea (2005) and Richter a documentary chamber opera by Mario Lorenzo (2003), which have been performed in France, Europe and Argentina.

In 2021, he will stage two creations, Lyoudka (a buffoonery) by Eugénia Palekhova at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Artichoke Row (based on Wagner’s Visit to Rossini) at the Théâtre de Nîmes. He is also continuing to develop Rayon N by Sebastian Rivas, for which he wrote the libretto.

Author of numerous articles on contemporary music, he edited a collective work on Georges Aperghis(Le corps musical, éditions Actes Sud, 1990) and directed the journal théâtres&musique from 2003 to 2012. In 2009, he directed the Atelier Opéra en Création at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, in 2012 he taught at the Académie Chigiana in Siena with composer Giorgio Battistelli, in 2017 he took part in the Biennale College program at the Venice Biennale at the invitation of Ivan Fedele, and in 2018 he taught at the Escuola de Invierno in Buenos Aires. In 2019, he will be leading a workshop on Conversations at the Ilkhom-Mark Weil Theatre in Tashkent.

www.antoinegindt.com

Elise Capdenat

After studying Architecture, Elise Capdenat graduated from the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Scenography (1993). During a year in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome (1996/1997), she published the book Circo Massimo-Sette Sale X2 in collaboration with Anne Attali in 1998. Since 1995, she has collaborated with Eric Didry both on his creations (Boltanski / interview in 1995, Récits / Reconstitutions in 1998, Non ora, non qui in 2002/2003, L’oppoponax in 2005, la loi du marcheur with Nicolas Bouchaud in 2010) and on numerous training courses (AFDAS course, Ecole du TNB).
In 2004, she designed and produced the scenography for Comme des Garçons’ Dover Street Marquet boutique in London. From 2003 to 2010, she took part in Sylvain Prunenec’s creations and research periods (Effroi in 2003, Redoux 2004, Lunatique 2006, About you 2007, “in-situ” residency in Bagnolet in 2009/2010, CND grant). Since 2009, she has collaborated with Thierry Collet on his “political magic” shows: influences directed by Michel Cerda (in 2009) and Qui-Vive directed by Eric Didry (in 20012). She explores opera with Antoine Gindt: Ringsaga (Richard Wagner’s tetralogy) created in 2011, then Aliados (contemporary opera by Sébastien Rivas) in 2013. She also collaborates on Nicolas Bouchaud’s new creations: Paroles d’acteurs (Festival d’Automne, Oct 2012), the Lucioles project (Avignon 2013).

Bernhard Lang

Bernhard Lang first studied piano at the Bruckner Konservatorium in Linz. In Graz, he continued learning classical and jazz piano, as well as arranging. He also studied philosophy and Germanic philology. Between 1977 and 1981, he worked with some of the greatest jazz bands, including Erich Zann Septett. He then studied composition with Polish composer Andrzej Dobrowolski, who introduced him to the techniques of new music, and counterpoint with Hermann Markus Pressl, who introduced him to the dodecaphonic techniques of Joseph-Matthias Hauer. In Graz, he studied with Gösta Neuwirth and Georg-Friedrich Haas, who introduced him to microtonal music. In 1986, Bernhard Lang composed Zeitmasken for string quartet as part of the Musikprotokoll festival, marking the start of his career as a composer. At the same time, he began teaching music, harmony and counterpoint at Graz University, and from 2003, composition. At the Graz Institute for Electronic Music, he developed the Loop Generator and Visual Loop Generator with Winfried Ritsch and Thomas Musil.

Since 1999, his main interest has been in music for the stage, where he applies his work on interpretation and, in particular, on contrast, as in the cycle Differenz/Wiederholung (difference/repetition): Das Theater der Wiederholungen (2003), I HATE MOZART (2006), Der Alte vom Berge (2007). Since 2003, he has collaborated with many choreographers, including Xavier Le Roy, Willi Dorner and Christine Gaigg, with whom he created NetTrike in 2010, a duplex between Ircam and Graz. In 2007, he embarked on a project to examine repetitive structures with the Monadologies cycle, based on a concept Bernhard Lang calls “musical-cellular treatment” derived from Leibniz’s Monadology. The project is still ongoing, the latest opus being Monadology XXXIX (2019). From 2013, he is a guest lecturer in composition at Lucerne. In June 2018, two portrait concerts are dedicated to him at Vienna’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Author of various projects in collaboration with Austrian musicians, artists and writers, Bernhard Lang is also a member of the improvisation groups LALELOO and VLO. In 2019, he receives the Austrian Arts Award for Music.
Ircam-Centre Pompidou

Sivan Eldar

Composer Sivan Eldar’s music has been described as “meditative and captivating” (l’Humanité), “of great refinement” (ResMusica) and “with a unique sensitivity to drama” (Diapason). Recent creations include Like Flesh (Opéras de Lille, Montpellier, Lorraine,Anvers),After Arethusa (Biennale deVenise,Auditorium du Louvre),Una Mujer Derramada (Théâtre du Châtelet), Heave (Centre Pompidou, Opéra de Marseille, November Musique) and Solicitations (Philharmonie Luxembourg, Ultraschall Berlin, Festival Présences, Wien Modern). His most recent honors include the Prix de Rome-Villa Médicis 2022, the Prix Fedora Opéra 2021 and residencies at Villa Albertine, Colonie MacDowell, Cité Internationale des Arts, and the Camargo, Civitella Ranieri, Singer-Polignac, Royaumont and Fulbright foundations. She has also been composer-in-residence at the Opéra de Montpellier (2019-22) and at IRCAM (2020-22). Born in Tel Aviv in 1985, she holds a doctorate in composition from UC Berkeley, then joined IRCAM for the Cursus in Composition and Computer Music. His music is published by Durand-Universal Music Classical.

www.sivaneldar.com

Francesco Filidei

Francesco Filidei graduated from the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, where he won unanimous first prizes in organ and composition. He then took advanced courses with Salvatore Sciarrino, Sylvano Bussotti, Giacomo Manzoni and Jean Guillou in Zurich. From 1999 to 2005, he studied composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris with Marco Stroppa and Frédéric Durieux, and analysis with Michaël Lévinas. At the same time, he took part in Ircam’s Cursus de composition et d’informatique musicale in 2001-2002 – where he was taught by Philippe Leroux – and in the “Voix nouvelles” composition session at Royaumont in 2004. As a soloist, he has been invited to the Berlin Philharmonic, the Festival d’Automne in Paris, the Archipel Festival in Geneva, the Venice Biennale, Milano Musica (La Scala season 2008-2009), Ircam, the Vienna Theaterhaus and the Forum Neues Musiktheater in Stuttgart. His works, published by Rai Trade, are performed by various ensembles, including Itinéraire, Alter Ego, Cairn, L’Instant donné, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Atelier XX, Court-Circuit, Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and Percussions de Strasbourg, Quatuor Béla, Quartetto Prometeo, Klangforum Wien, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Remix, 2e2m, MusikFabrik, Les Cris de Paris, Ensemble Linea and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. He won the Salzburg Music Forderpreistrager in 2006, the Takefu International Music Festival Prize in 2007, the Siemens Förderpreis in 2009 and the Unesco Picasso/Miro Medal from the Rostrum of Composers in 2011.

Francesco Filidei was composer-in-residence at the Schloss Solitude Academy in Stuttgart in 2006, and a member of the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid for two years in 2007. In 2010, he was appointed professor of composition at the Voix Nouvelles de Royaumont festival, and in 2011 he was a guest professor at the University of Iowa and the Takefu Academy. He was a resident at the Villa Medici in Rome in 2012 and 2013, and composer-in-residence at Ensemble 2e2m in 2015. In 2016, he was named Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. Francesco Filidei joined the Emilia Region Theatres Foundation in Italy as a musical consultant in 2018, and the Villa Medici in Rome as artistic director of the Controtempo contemporary music festival. In 2019, commissioned by the Opéra comique, he composed the opera L’inondation in collaboration with Joël Pommerat. In 2021, he will adapt Le masque de la mort rouge, commissioned by Ircam for the 100th anniversary of the Donaueschinger Musiktage.
His works are published by Rai Trade and, since 2018, by Ricordi.

Ircam-Centre Pompidou

version n°1 of 27/07/2023

Number of traines minimum / maximum

Floor staff: 3 singers, 1 pianist, 8 composers, 1 assistant director, 2 assistant scenographers
Headcount: 5 singers, 8 composers, 1 pianist, 1 assistant director, 2 assistant scenographers

Pre-requisites and conditions of access to the course

Singers, pianist, assistant director, set design assistants
Be a young singer, pianist, assistant director or set designer in your final year of higher education.
Participants formally undertake to complete the entire 21-day course.
Have a good level of spoken English.
The conditions of access are transmitted during the training.

Composers

Young professional composers in higher education or with professional experience.
Participants formally undertake to complete the entire 15-day training course.
Have a good level of spoken English.
Access conditions are communicated during training.

Targeted competencies / operational objectives

At the end of the training the beneficiary will be able to :

For singers / pianists

• Performing a contemporary opera
• Understanding the specifics of working on stage with a director
• Work with a conductor on the vocal characteristics of contemporary writing
• Learn how to place the singer on stage
• Preparing for opera productions in a professional context

For composers :

• Compose a lyrical scene for a vocal and instrumental ensemble in a given time;
• Conceive a project collectively, and know how to take part in a common reflection while feeding it with proposals;
• Communicate about his/her career, his/her approach, his/her work ;
• Communicate his/her artistic intentions to the performers of his/her work ;
• Receive suggestions for the dramatic part from the director and librettist;
• Integrate the technical limits of interpretation expressed by performers and teachers.

For the assistant director

• Understanding the specifics of working on stage with a director
• Work on the particularities of contemporary opera staging
• Preparing for opera productions in a professional context

For set design assistants

Educational objectives
For singers / pianists

Knowledge

• Analyze a work (form, rhythm, harmony…)
• Acquire the technical tools needed to interpret a repertoire, and know when and how to use them.
• Understand a sung text in its literal meaning as well as its subtext
• Integrate the pronunciation of sung texts in one’s mother tongue as well as in foreign languages
• Defining the dramaturgical content of a work
• Memorize musical works to detach oneself from the score

Expertise

• Efficiently repeat a program in a limited amount of time
• Find your musical and human place in a band
• Acquire the technical tools needed to interpret a repertoire, and know when and how to use them.
• Define one’s own interpretation of a work, based on advice from supervisorsMake one’s workknown to the public, the press and professionals

soft skills

• Hearing and understanding managers’ requests and musical suggestions
• Clearly express musical intentions and justify them
• Communicating with kindness to the artists with whom we play the difficulties we may encounter in our relationships.
• Share your interpretation with an audience during the final performance
• Adapt to the demands of a repertoire (pronunciation, musicality of a language…)
• Benefit from the learning of other training participants
• Identify all the people present at the training session and their roles: supervising artists, artistic director, administrator, production manager, receptionist…

For composers :

Knowledge

• Deepen theoretical knowledge of a specific repertoire

soft skills

• Use technical specificities to create a new work and present the fruit of this work in public during the final performance.

soft skills

• Find the best ways to share your artistic intentions and integrate the technical limitations of the performers into your writing process.
• Share your project with an audience at the final presentation

For the assistant director and set design assistants

Knowledge

• Analyzing a work of art
• Acquire the technical tools needed to stage a repertoire and know when and how to use them
• Understand a sung text in its literal meaning as well as its subtext
• Defining the dramaturgical content of a work
• Identify the specific characteristics of the professional network in which the beneficiary wishes to pursue a career

Expertise

• Efficiently rehearse a scene with the director within a limited timeframe
• Findingyour place in a group
• Acquire the technical tools needed to stage a work, and know when and how to use them.
• Publicize your work to the public, the press and professionals

soft skills

• Hearing and understanding managers’ requests and musical suggestions
• Communicating with kindness to the artists you work with
• Exchanging ideas with artists with whom we play
• Benefit from the learning of other training participants
• Identify all the people present at the training session and their roles: supervising artists, artistic director, administrator, production manager, receptionist, etc.Identify the different contacts in a professional sector and know how to approach them to develop your artistic projects.

Course description/content of the training

The entire program is designed around an immersive, co-constructed pedagogy. This new one-session program will combine theoretical and practical approaches, in the form of experimental workshops, creative phases, seminars, meetings, lectures and role-playing.

DAY 1	10:00 a.m.: Reception of beneficiaries/ morning In the company of François Naulot (artistic director of the Pôle Voice and Repertoire), Jean-Philippe Wurtz (artistic director of the Pôle Musical creation), Catherine Huet (administrator of the Pôle Voices and repertoire), Samuel Agard (Pôle Musical creation) Armelle Mousset (production manager), Antoine Gindt (stage director) and Yoan Héreau (vocal coach), tour of the beneficiaries, presentation of their backgrounds and training expectations. The production manager explains how life at Royaumont is organized (life rules, meal times, internal regulations), presents the sign-in sheet, and reminds us of the tools available: individual rehearsal rooms, a drive for sharing resources, a welcome booklet, photocopiers, and a Whatsapp group for contacting the production manager and exchanging information. 11am: start of the training session with the instructor. Interpretation of one or two works to define the focus of the session 3pm-6pm: group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities	Face-to-face reception, with all the participants in the training. A collective meeting with the beneficiaries, the facilitators and the educational manager. Sessions facilitated by the speakers.
DAYS 2 TO 5	Group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities	Sessions facilitated by the speakers.
DAY 6	Group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities 6pm-7.30pm: Fenêtre sur cour(s) (Window on the courtyard): rehearsals open to the public, presentation of the group and the work carried out during training.	Sessions facilitated by the speakers.

This sample schedule can be adapted to suit the needs of the course and its participants.

Methods used

Teaching aids :

For singers / pianists

• Individual courses
• Group courses
• Collective videoconference exchange sessions with the composers, before the works are handed over;
• One-on-one videoconferencing sessions with the composers, before the works are handed over;
• Rehearsals in the form of workshops ;
• Public concerts presenting the final works, with audiovisual recording

For composers :

• Individual lessons (2 with each composer) ;
• Group lessons (2 with each composer) ;
• Collective videoconference exchange sessions between the ensemble, the invited professional soloists and the composers, before the works are handed over;
• One-on-one videoconferencing sessions between the ensemble’s musicians, guest professional soloists and composers, before the works are handed over;
• Presentation by each composer of his or her career and work ;
• Collective management sessions (creation of an ensemble, contemporary music network…) ;
• Rehearsals in the form of workshops ;
• Public concerts presenting the final works, with audiovisual recording

For the assistant director and set design assistants

• Individual and group discussion sessions during the session
• Video-conferencing sessions with the supervisory team and composers, prior to handover of the works;
• Public concerts presenting the final works, with audiovisual recording

Technical resources available :

• Workrooms, equipped with desks and chairs.
• Outside of class time, during the training period, work spaces can be made available free of charge, upon request and subject to availability.
• Documentation via a private google drive.
• The composers will have access to a photocopier and will have the material to print their complete score and the separate parts (paper, bindings, cover).

Monitoring and evaluation methods

Before training :

Singers, pianist, assistant director

• Pre-selection on the basis of an application file, via a dedicated platform, by the training manager, using a questionnaire to identify the needs of the beneficiary.
• Assessment of professional level through biography, copies of awards and diplomas, and audio and/or video file.
• Final selection by face-to-face audition with educational director and lecturer(s)

Composers

• Final selection on the basis of an enrolment file, via a dedicated platform, by the training manager, using a questionnaire to identify the beneficiary’s needs.
• Assessment of professional level through biography, CV, requested scores and recordings, and remote audition.

During the course, face-to-face

Singers, pianist, assistant director, set design assistants

During face-to-face training: Evaluation of the beneficiary’s reactivity and ability to quickly integrate the trainer’s proposals.
During the presentation at the end of the training: the interpretation of one or several works in a real situation in front of an audience allows to appreciate the evolution of the interpretation, as well as the emotional and physical postures.
The interview is used to evaluate and guide career choices.

In particular, the following are observed for the beneficiary :

• the quality of physical and gestural ease,
• the relevance of interpretation in relation to historical and musicological analysis,
• accuracy and coherence within the ensemble,
• the relevance of work techniques,
• taking into account the spatial and acoustic configuration of the site,
• the quality of the relationship with the public.

The beneficiaries sign a sign-in sheet for each half-day.

Composers

During the classroom training: evaluation of the beneficiary’s reactivity and ability to quickly integrate the proposals made by the trainers, as well as his/her capacity to integrate into the group.
The individual interview between the training manager and the beneficiary enables assessment and career guidance.

In particular, the following are observed for the beneficiary :

• the ability to conceive and produce a balanced, original work, using writing techniques or effects in a controlled and balanced manner ;
• the ability to communicate about their work, both during rehearsals and public presentations.

The beneficiaries sign a sign-in sheet for each half-day.

End course :

A certificate at the end of the training, mentioning the objectives, the nature and the duration of the training and the results of the evaluation of the training, is given to the trainee as well as the certificate if necessary.
The trainee fills in a qualitative evaluation form in order to assess the training’s achievements from an artistic, pedagogical, human and material point of view.
A post-training follow-up is established, for which the trainees are asked to inform during the six months following the end of the training of the contracts they have obtained.
Some of the composers will be awarded a professional commission, paid for and involving the Foundation’s partners.

Accessibility and consideration of disability situations

The Royaumont Foundation has made the acceptance and participation of people with disabilities a strong commitment to its project. Our training courses are open to people with disabilities and different arrangements can be made according to the specificities of each course. To discuss your needs, please contact us when you register.

• Rooms accessible by elevator.
• Screen equipment and amplified speakers.
• Catering on the first floor.

Pedagogical manager

François Naulot, artistic director of the Voix et Répertoire division
f.naulot@royaumont.com

Jean-Philippe Wurtz, Musical creation pole director
jp.wurtz@royaumont.com

Administrative referent

Catherine Huet, Pôle Voix et Répertoire administrator
Huet.c@royaumont.com

Samuel Agard, administrator of the Pôle Création musicale / s.agard@royaumont.com

Disability referents

Samuel Agard and Doriane Trouboul
referenthandicap@royaumont.com