Musique-Cordiale
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- This article is about music festival. For other uses, see Musique.
The Musique-Cordiale Festival Musiques en Liberté is the name for an international festival of music and song and for a series of other musical events in France and Britain. It grew from a dream of making music and encouraging musical appreciation at the highest level in the most conducive surroundings. In a spirit of entente cordiale, the festivals draw people from all ages and many countries and are designed to encourage inter-cultural friendship and understanding through a shared involvement in music-making. Singers and players range in age from 15 to 75.
A key regular feature of Musique-Cordiale events is a period of rehearsal and performance of major choral works by the Ensemble Cordial, a European choir & orchestra with instrumental and vocal soloists. In 2005, it consisted of French, British, German and Swiss musicians and singers. It is likely to include musicians from the USA and South America in 2006. The ensemble includes some internationally renowned instrumentalists and professional musicians, interacting educationally with budding young talent from conservatoires. It also includes good enthusiastic amateurs, there to build up their skills and contribute to the music-making. The Musique-Cordiale summer music festival takes place in and around Seillans in the Var in the south of France. It is a growing international musical experience. Like the autumn music weekend, which takes place under the umbrella of the Canterbury Festival, in Kent, England, it features concerts and open rehearsals by the Ensemble Cordial as well as performances and master-classes by other musicians. Concerts take place in churches, public buildings, out-of-doors and in specially-erected stadiums in the towns.
The festival repertoire, from classical to jazz, from sacred to sexy, is designed to suit an eclectic variety of tastes. Classical training is the common feature among the musicians, regardless of what kind of music they play or sing. Recent and future performers include Artisan, the Quatuor Arpeggione string quartet, Errol Girdlestone, Pippa Pawlik, Piers Adams & Red Priest (violin, cello, piano and a variety of recorders), Hans Martin Ulbrich (oboe), Florenz Jenny (bassoon), pianists Marina Nadiradze, Paul Posnak & Martin Kasik and the Bolivian Soloists quintet (flute, cello, violin, double bass and piano). Each year, a specially-constituted Quartet, consisting of well-known chamber music players, plays as a quartet under the guise of Quatuor Cordial 2005, 2006 etc.
