THE SPARKS TRIO
Catherine Arnoux, violin
Valérie Dulac, cello
Manuel Schweizer, piano
The Sparks trio is the ultimate metamorphosis of the Quark trio, created at the turn of the 21st century, which carried out some great tours around the world, some of which are recounted in the book Déconcertants concerts by Manuel Schweizer.
This latest version of the trio was brought together in response to a request from composer Florent Gauthier for the creation of his piece: White clouds in a twisted mind , in 2023, which you can listen to here:
White clouds in a twisted mind
To mark the anniversary years of Fauré (1845-1924) and Ravel (1875-1937), the ensemble felt an irresistible urge to perform the trios of the two composers, which are among their absolute masterpieces.
CATHERINE ARNOUX: violin
Born in 1965, Catherine Arnoux began studying the violin and the viola da gamba simultaneously.
For the violin, she received instruction from Devy Erlih, Jean Hubeau, Franco Gulli at the CNSM in Paris where she obtained a First Prize in violin unanimously in 1986, and was then admitted to the advanced studies program.
She is a laureate of the Fondation de France and the Fondation Menuhin and won the First Grand Prize, under the presidency of Henri Dutilleux, of the Douai International Competition for Young Concert Artists in 1991.
For the viola da gamba, she studied in 1993 with Jérôme Hantaï, then with Marianne Muller at the CNSMD of Lyon where she obtained the Diplôme National d'Etudes Supérieures de Musique. She then furthered her studies with Wieland Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
She performs on major stages in France and abroad (Cité de la musique in Paris, Philharmonie de Berlin, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Royal Albert Hall in London...).
A substitute violinist with the Paris Opera Orchestra and the French National Orchestra until 1996, she has since worked regularly with the Lyon National Orchestra, the Champs-Elysées Orchestra (playing gut strings), and the Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble Orchestra. She has performed with or under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, Vincent Dumestre, Paul van Nevel, Michel Laplénie, Pierre and Jérôme Hantaï...
She has been teaching violin and chamber music at the CRR of Lyon since 2012.
VALERIE DULAC: cello
A graduate of the Lyon National Conservatory of Music and Dance in 1994 with a degree in cello, she also completed advanced studies in string trios and studied with the Paris String Trio and the Mosaïque Quartet. She quickly gravitated towards eclectic repertoires ranging from early music to contemporary works.
Principal cellist of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain under the direction of Bruno Mantovani, she performs at major French contemporary music festivals
as well as abroad, and regularly works with composers. She also plays with various chamber ensembles, notably the Camerata , a string ensemble, or the Duo a due with accordionist Christine Paté, and has participated in several productions of the Solistes XXI ensemble directed by Rachid Safir.
She devotes a large part of her time to her passion for early, classical and romantic music on period instruments, and performs with ensembles such as La Chambre Philharmonique , Ensemble 415 , Correspondances , Akademia , Ensemble Céladon , Canticum Novum or Ensemble Unisoni of which she is a founding member.
She has been teaching baroque cello at the CRR of Grenoble since 2009, and actively participates in educational activities in schools, hospitals or prisons.
MANUEL SCHWEIZER: piano
YouTube playlist :
Videos:
Ravel: trio in A minor, 1st mvt
Fauré: trio in D minor, 1st mvt
