Air de cour” workshop

Vincent Dumestre, artistic director of Le Poème Harmonique

*2003-2004: In residence at Royaumont; 2003 to 2010: Training and production of Lully’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” with Benjamin Lazar. 2006: Formation Orfeo Dolente de Belli. 2007>2009: Training and production of Lully’s “Cadmus and Hermione” with Benjamin Lazar

Vincent Dumestre studied art history at the Ecole du Louvre and classical guitar at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. During his musical career, he took up the Baroque guitar and theorbo with masters such as Hopkinson Smith and Rolf Lislevand. He appears as soloist with numerous ensembles, including the Ricercar Consort, La Simphonie du Marais, Le Concert des Nations, La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, and the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, with whom he has also made several recordings.

In 1998, Vincent Dumestre founded Le Poème Harmonique, an ensemble specializing in the Baroque repertoire, which he now directs. All of Le Poème Harmonique’s recordings have received numerous awards from the music press. Their stage performances have given them a unique place on the international Baroque scene, and they are welcomed by the most prestigious programmers in France and abroad: the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Cité de la Musique, the Automne en Normandie festival, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Festival de Saint-Denis, the Abbaye de Royaumont, the Ambronay festival, the BBC Proms, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam…

* previous collaborations with Royaumont

version n°1 of 07/13/2023

Number of traines minimum / maximum

Minimum enrolment: 10 trainees and instrumentalists (viols, lutes, harpsichord)
Maximum number of trainees: 12 and instrumentalists (viols, lutes, harpsichord)

Pre-requisites and conditions of access to the course

Young professional singer in the final stages of higher education
Participants formally undertake to complete the entire 6-day course.
The conditions of access are transmitted during the training.

Targeted competencies / operational objectives

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

• Discover the repertoire of early 18th-century French cantatas
• Explore the specific technical and stylistic features of this repertoire, which combines allegory and decorum.
• Explore the musical practice of French salons at the crossroads of dramatic genres, between spoken theater and operaStudy the musicological sources that inform interpretation

Educational objectives

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
• Identify the specific characteristics of the professional network in which the beneficiary wishes to pursue a career

Expertise

• Build a coherent concert program with a given timing
• Efficiently repeat a program in a limited amount of time
• Findyour musical and human place in a band
• Acquire the technical tools needed to interpret a repertoire, and know when and how to use them.
• Work and search in the music library: find a specific work or search for lesser-known works to perform, identify an edition and its relevance to a composer’s work.
• Take into account the information provided by a musicologist specializing in a given repertoire to fine-tune your interpretation of a work.
• Define one’s own interpretation of a work, based on advice from supervisors
• Affirm your career plan by defining the various stages and a development strategy
• Publicize your work 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
• Exchanging musical ideas with artists with whom we play and defining a common discourse
• 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…
• Identify the various 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 program, organized in one session, will combine theoretical and practical approaches, in the form of experimental workshops, creative phases, seminars, meetings, conferences and role-playing situations, with the common thread for this third edition: from solo form to collective project.

DAY 1	10 a.m.: welcome and tour de table 11am-1pm/14.30pm-6.30pm: Group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities	Face-to-face reception, with all the participants in the training.
DAYS 2 TO 4	10am-1pm/14.30pm-6.30pm: Group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities	Sessions facilitated by the speakers.
DAY 5	10am-1pm/14.30pm-4.30pm: 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 the week.	Sessions facilitated by the speakers.
DAY 6	10am-1pm/14.30pm-6.30pm: Group lessons, detailed work on each work, definition of aesthetic and technical specificities	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 :

Practical, face-to-face teaching in the form of performance classes given by the main instructor in small groups or collectively, depending on the repertoire covered.
A public presentation at the end of the course can take the form of a masterclass, a presentation of the entire body of work performed or other…
It brings together all beneficiaries and does not give rise to remuneration.

Technical resources available :

The rooms are spacious, equipped with music stands (solid or folding), chairs or stools suitable for musicians (without armrests) and the instruments required for training.
Beneficiaries bring their own instruments and scores, which are not supplied.
Outside lesson times, rehearsal spaces can be made available free of charge, on request and subject to availability.
The abbey monument in its entirety (rooms and gardens)
Documentation via private Drive

Monitoring and evaluation methods

Before training :

Selection of trainees by the pedagogical managers of the CRRs in the Ile-de-France region
Registration only with the partner CRR establishments. No registration on Royaumont website

During the course, face-to-face

• Evaluation of the beneficiary’s responsiveness and ability to quickly integrate the suggestions made by the consultant.
• 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.

End course :

A certificate stating the objectives, nature and duration of the course, and the results of the training assessment, is given to the beneficiary, along with the certificate where applicable.
The beneficiary fills in a qualitative evaluation form in order to assess the training’s achievements from an artistic, pedagogical, human and material point of view.
Concerts outside the training framework enable us to monitor the development of the beneficiary’s career after the training courses, and in particular to evaluate the quality of performance and the number of concerts given.
A post-training follow-up is established, for which the beneficiaries are asked to inform during the six months following the end of the training of the contracts they have obtained.

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

Administrative referent

Catherine Huet, administrator of the Voix et Répertoire division
Huet.c@royaumont.com

Disability referents

Samuel Agard and Doriane Trouboul
referenthandicap@royaumont.com