Cellologue: Simone Drescher in concert

This event will be held in English.

This event is organized by the Columbia Global Paris Center with the support of the the Society for the Promotion of Westphalian Cultural (GWK).

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Program

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)

In manus tuas for solo cello (and voice)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude from Suite for Cello No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

Enric Casals (1892-1986)

Hommage a Pau Casals Suite in D minor for solo cello

1. Prelude
2. Scherzando
3. Elegia
4. Finale

Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937)

28. Juli 1750...in memoriam J.S.B.

Pēteris Vasks (b. 1946)

Grāmata čellam - The Book for solo cello

1. Fortissimo, marcatissimo
2. Pianissimo, dolcissimo

David Chaillou (b. 1971)

L’oiseau (Premiere)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Gigue from Suite for Cello No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

Artist

Simone Drescher is described by the press as a "thoroughbred musician." "She is absorbed in her music-making and in the music. She feels it with every fiber of her body and yet at the same time also permeates it intellectually" (GWK).

In 2024, she released her solo album "CELLOLOGUE," which was recorded and produced in a special 3D audio process with Dolby Atmos. In autumn 2022, she released her debut CD "HUMANITY," which she recorded as a soloist with the Sinfonietta Riga in Latvia at the invitation of composer Peteris Vasks. The album was nominated in three categories for the Opus Klassik and the German Record Critics' Award and has reached over 2 million listeners digitally to date.

The up-and-coming cellist plays international recitals and performs as a soloist with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Philharmonie Baden-Baden, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen, and the Sinfonietta Köln. As a chamber musician, she has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. She has performed at festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Usedom Music Festival, and the Norfolk Music Festival at Yale University, USA.

Simone Drescher's repertoire includes not only the classics of her field but also rarely performed works. Simone Drescher has been honored several times, most recently with a special prize at the International Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann competition at the Philharmonie Berlin. The German Music Council included her as a soloist and chamber musician in the national selection of concerts by young artists, and the Society for the Promotion of Westphalian Cultural (GWK) Work has supported her for many years with concert appearances and the realization of two CDs.

As a teenager, Simone Drescher was repeatedly recognized at the national "Jugend music" competition not only as a cellist but also in the flute and accordion categories. For several years she was involved in Yehudi Menuhin’s “Live Music Now” and is still concerned with bringing music to people who are otherwise prevented from attending concerts. She teaches and is regularly involved in jury activities, as a lecturer for chamber music and orchestral projects and for masterclasses at home and abroad.

Simone Drescher was born in Herdecke and was already a junior student with Prof. Gotthard Popp at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf. The Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes supported her. She received her diploma from the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, where she studied in the class of Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. She then went on to study with Prof. Troels Svane at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, where she earned her master's degree and concert exam. She completed the latter as a soloist with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Alongside her studies, Simone Drescher received important artistic impulses in masterclasses with Wolfgang Boettcher, David Geringas, Natalia Gutman, and Tabea Zimmermann and as a scholarship holder of the orchestra academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim.

L’oiseau

This concert includes the world premiere of David Chaillou’s “L’oiseau,” dedicated to Simone Drescher.

By David Chaillou - I discovered Simone Drescher through a video on the vast ocean of the internet. She was performing "Gramata Cellam" by Péteris Vask, and I was immediately struck by the intense way Simone played and lived this beautiful music. I reached out to her, initiating our musical dialogue. Simone then commissioned a cello piece from me, with the only constraint being to incorporate her voice. Integrating a musician's voice into a cello composition was a challenge, but I aimed to make it more than a mere technique, allowing the silent body of the musician to speak alongside the cello's moving melody. Proximity, fusion, and contrast guided me in this emotional journey, resulting in the piece titled "L’oiseau" ("The Bird"). The title symbolizes the fluidity of air and breath, the illusion of flight, and the groundedness of nature, all connected by the bird. This piece represents a composer's discourse on the dialogue between classical contemporary music and imagined traditional music, embodying the transformation of a person into a bird. Simone's understanding of my intentions shines through in her performance, making her the dedicatee of this piece.

David Chaillou

The French composer David Chaillou was born in 1971. An alum of the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) and the Sorbonne University, he writes for various combinations of instruments, including solo instruments, small ensembles, voice, orchestra, and mixed music.

His music is both expressive and innovative and is an original synthesis between French music (Gérard Grisey, Henri Dutilleux, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel) and the post-minimalist school. He has received commissions from the National Orchestre de Bretagne, the Committee for the 500th anniversary of Trinità dei Monti in Rome, and the Beethovenfest in Bonn as part of the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty between France and Germany. His works have been broadcast by France Musique, ORF (Austria), RTS (Switzerland), Rai 3 (Italy), rbb-Kultur (Germany) YLE (Finland), Arte, Mezzo, Telewizja Polska and France Télévisions and performed in many European countries and in the USA. His recent works include: "Un détour par l’Orient" (text: Gerard Macé, éditions Gallimard), Opéra de Paris, 2022; "La nuit des hiéroglyphes" directed by Benjamin Lazar, Institut de France, Paris, 2022; "Da pacem domine" for choir, organ and orchestra, premiered on April 2, 2022 at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris under the direction of Till Aly; "Léger au front", music theater based on Fernand Léger’s letters during the First World War and performed 2018 at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris with the sculptor and performer Patrice Alexandre, performed by Jacques Gamblin in French and Karl Markovics in the German Version; "Little Nemo" (libretto by Arnaud Delalande and Olivier Balazuc), a children’s opera first performed at Angers Nantes Opéra in 2017 with the mezzo-soprano Chloé Briot and the Ensemble Ars Nova. The opera was honored with the Prix de l’Association Beaumarchais (SACD) and broadcast by France Musique. His scores are published by Universal AG in Vienna. He is also a senior lecturer at the University of Lille. David Chaillou has been invited as guest composer at University of Cambridge (Faculty of Music) and the Mozarteum University Salzburg as well as the Iitti Music Festival in Finland.

Organizer

The addresses pressing global issues that are at the forefront of international education and research: agency and gender; climate and the environment; critical dialogues for just societies; encounters in the arts; and health and medical science.

Columbia Global brings together major global initiatives from across the university to advance knowledge and foster global engagement. Those initiatives include the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination. Our mission is to address complex global challenges through groundbreaking scholarly pursuits, leadership development, cutting-edge research, and projects that aim for social impact. Our long-term goal is to reimagine the university’s role in society as not only a nexus for learning and intellectual exploration but also as a catalyst for creativity and impact locally, regionally, and globally.

Venue

Nestled in the Montparnasse district, Reid Hall hosts several Columbia University initiatives: the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Columbia Undergraduate Programs, M.A. in History and Literature, and the GSAPP Shape of Two Cities Program. This unique combination of resources is enhanced by our global network whose mission is to expand the University's engagement the world over through educational programs, research initiatives, regional partnerships, and public events.

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

The views and opinions expressed by speakers and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Columbia Global Paris Center or its affiliates.

Host or Publisher Columbia Global Centers | Paris