MA.NI.FE.STO
The role of the Arts in a collective context :
bringing music and literature to life
LesIlluminations is an instrumental ensemble founded in 2015 by graduates of the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP).
The ensemble takes its name from a collection of poems by Rimbaud, set to music by Benjamin Britten, a decision which points to the desire to combine the two art forms.
LesIlluminations is an artistic project that came of age in 2021 under the leadership of Aurélie Allexandre d’Albronn, who redefined it by deepening its relationship with different concert formats and a multifaceted repertoire.
LesIlluminations provides a space that nurtures the aspirations of its musicians, ambassadors of heritage repertoires with a strong creative approach to music, literature and poetry.
LesIlluminations is committed to a quest for meaning, based on close communion with the audience, a shared experience that takes them down paths with a reputation for being impenetrable. Which means being warmly thanked for having played Boulez.
LesIlluminations, therefore, represents a world with close ties to the creation of contemporary music, the ambition being to commission a series of works, a collection of concertante pieces for solo cello and ensemble.
LesIlluminations, is, last but not least, an ensemble turned towards other people. Carefully tailored workshops are a central part of our mission, driven by the desire to transmit our passion.
Our workshops make use of third-party venues where we organise activities for all ages, in long-term partnerships with institutions and « artist-teachers ». Because we believe that sharing a piece of music means giving others the chance to listen to it and interpret it, to access its true meaning and to explore it together, using real tools acquired over time.
Our workshops create opportunities for exchange, developed by educational specialists and in unique formats, while taking steps to reach out to the public. Because we believe that sharing a work of art means revealing to the public its own creativity and, in doing so, inviting the artist to re-examine his or her own work.
ORI.GI.NAL CR.ÉA.TI.ONS
Le Jardin d’Afrique –
by Benjamin Attahir
Le Jardin d’Afrique, lieu-dit pour un non-dit, chamber opera for three singers and nine instrumentalists.
Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, Autumn 2024
based on « Le Jardin d’Afrique » by Isabelle Junca and Aurélie Allexandre d’Albronn edited by Al Manar.
A project co-produced by the Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing
Extract, Calligraphier un lieu-dit (« A Place Captured in Calligraphy ») :
Le Jardin d’Afrique
– June 2022, Institut du Monde Arabe
Justine METRAL, Hanna SALZENSTEIN
et Aurélie ALLEXANDRE D’ALBRONN, cellos
Raquel CAMARINHA, soprano
Le Carnaval de Toumaï
Do we know who we are before we cross paths with the Other? After a chance meeting with a cello, a violin and an accordion, Toumaï, who’s never been able to see beyond the boundaries of his world, is about to find out.
- Isabelle JUNCA, author
- Pascal ZAVARO, original composition
- Coralie SALONNE, stage adaptation, direction and interventions
Autour de Messagesquisse
The ensemble Les Illuminations brings together 8 cellos in this exciting and challenging programme, from Bach to Boulez including Pärt, Debussy, Barber and Villa-Lobos.
– Summer 2022, Saint-Céré Festival
Aurélie ALLEXANDRE D’ALBRONN, solo cello
Renaud GUIEU, Justine METRAL, Hanna SALZENSTEIN, Anthony KONDO, Adrien BELLOM, Raphäel GINZBURG, Irène JOLYS, cellos
Avec Othman LOUATI, conductor (Boulez)
Et Iryna KYSHLIARUK, soprano (Villa-Lobos)
SEE ALSO :
Live : Liberté de Francis Poulenc
Prism
The aim of our project is to commission a collection of pieces for cello concertante and ensemble, by a variety of European composers, in this mise-en-abime of Boulez’s sound-world.
Messagesquisse by Pierre BOULEZ, recorded and filmed in March 2023 :
Nuits –
an original work by Othman Louati
Co-produced with France Musique and broadcast during the programme Création Mondiale.
CO.MI.NG
UP …
Autumn 2024
Le Jardin d’Afrique,
lieu-dit pour un non-dit
Chamber opera by Benjamin ATTAHIR
Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing / Théâtre Raymond Devos
PA.SSÉ.S …
14 May 2024
An original creation for your audiences
Espace Jean-Legendre / Théâtres de Compiègne
12 April 2024
Le Jardin d’Afrique,
lieu-dit pour un non-dit
Chamber opera by Benjamin ATTAHIR
End-of-residency presentation / Cité de la Voix, Vézelay
> INFORMATION
22 March 2024
An original creation for young audiences
Espace Jean-Legendre / Théâtres de Compiègne
23 May 2023
World premiere of the version for three cellos and soprano at the Institut du Monde Arabe
AURÉLIE
ALLEXANDRE
D’ALBRONN
Artistic Director
Cello
The cellist Aurélie Allexandre d’Albronn belongs to a generation of musicians who no longer see a conflict between different styles or repertoires.
A graduate of the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP), she also studied with Peter Bruns at the Hochschule für Musik in Leipzig, and in the Trio Wanderer class at the CRR in Paris. Interested in all musical aesthetics, she studied baroque cello with Bruno Cocset (CNSMDP). She also had the opportunity to perfect her skills with Philippe Hersant, Tôn-ThâtTiêt, Gustav Rivinius, Gary Hoffman, Philippe Muller, Valentin Erben, and members of the Ysaÿe and Debussy quartets.
She thrives on the cross-fertilization of different forms, from solo repertoire to chamber music, and maintains a special relationship with the orchestra which provides the setting for extraordinary collective adventures. Collaborations include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Les Dissonances, with whom she has played in some of the world’s greatest venues.
Her chamber music partners include the clarinettist Raphaël Sévère, the pianist Clément Lefebvre, the violinist Eva Zavaro, the violist Léa Hennino and the Quatuor Hermès.
She is now focusing her research on the relationship between literature, poetry and music, and has been the artistic director of the multi-faceted ensemble Les Illuminations for the past year and a half. She also published Le Jardin d’Afrique, lieu-dit pour un non-dit with Editions Al Manar, which became the libretto for the chamber opera by Benjamin Attahir.
The ensemble Les Illuminations is in residence at
The Ensemble is supported by the LYRA Fondation and the HAPLOTÈS Foundation, sponsored by Caisse des Dépôts
and receives the support of
CONTACT
THE ENSEMBLE, LES ILLUMINATIONS
MVAC 206 Quai de Valmy
75010 Paris
ADMINISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION
Cross Media Culture
lesilluminations@cmculture.com