In a sold-out "Castel" auditorium, the audience enjoyed a highly varied programme!
The Brass Band de Charente was delighted to share the stage with Nicolas Chatenet, principal trumpet of the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris. Nicolas thrilled the audience in the magnificent 'Castel' hall in Châteaubernard, displaying many facets of the brass repertoire!
The concert began with the Brass Band playing a number of modern pieces, including 'Scat' from 'Cat's Tales', written by Peter Graham. The audience particularly enjoyed the wonderful jazzy solos by Olivier Rivière (Vibraphone), Luca Chiché (Cornet) and Michaël Paulay (Trombone) - a fine performance by our soloists!
A highly eclectic repertoire
The highlight of the evening was Nicolas Chatenet's performance of three pieces from his repertoire. The first and most complex piece was 'Freedom', written by Nicolas himself. This innovative piece of music-making included the use of electronic technology.
The piece won him first prize in a recent international competition. Nicolas had also kindly written a coda for the end of the piece, to include the Brass Band. It was a privilege to hear such a performance in the Charente!
Telemann comes to life!
Nicolas then played a duet of Peter Meechan's 'Song of Hope' for trumpet and cornet à pistons with Luca Chiché, before playing an encore of a piece by Telemann, but once again in the 21stème century style.
Luca, who has now completed his master's degree in trumpet at the Horschule für Music in Munich, commented: "I love coming back to the Charente and to the Brass Band in which I was principal cornet for several years. The opportunity to play music that is both innovative and popular, with a constant search for harmony of sound, gives us food for thought!"
Flexibility!
On Sunday, Nicolas agreed to play the iconic solo 'Flowerdale', written by Philip Sparke, for the audience who had missed the Saturday evening concert. During the rehearsal, Nicolas practised with his B-flat piccolo trumpet but, at the last minute, decided to play the piece with the brass band's E-flat soprano cornet.
Those present on the day were also able to hear Nicolas play the trombone to an equally high standard. What a talent!
Expanding our borders!
At the end of the evening, the conductor, Francis chiché, commented:
« It's a real pleasure to work with such a talented musician, and to see the frontiers of music open up in a way that's accessible to all audiences.
We loved seeing Luca join his Charentais brass family and perform such a dazzling duet with Nicolas!
This weekend, we've managed to captivate the next generation of brass players, giving them a high-level musical experience that will live long in their memories!
Get in touch with us!
You can also read more on other recent events with the Association and the Brass Band de Charente – such as a fantastic weekend workshop with the region’s youth players and the international trumpet soloist from Paris Opera, Nicolas Chatenet.
Music is one of life's gifts! To contact us, go to our website: www.brassbanddecharente.fr .
1er February 2020