vendredi 27 décembre 2013
vendredi 26 septembre 2008
L'interview de Franz Marcus sur Musiq 3
Vous trouverez ICI le lien vous permettant d'écouter la présentation d'I Cambristi qu'a fait Franz Marcus sur les antennes de Musiq 3 le 11 novembre 2007 dans le cadre de l'émission MUSIQ'ACADEMIES, de 12 h à 13 h. Présentatrice Pascale Vanlerberghe.
mercredi 11 avril 2007
lundi 26 mars 2007
La presse anglophone parle d'I Cambristi
Arts Feature
Musical impromptus
Scores of amateur musicians in Brussels are getting together to make music, and nobody minds the odd missed note. Marie Dumont finds out more about this chamber music renaissance
On a chilly autumn evening, a cheerful, multilingual multilingual crowd is pressing into the Musee Charlier on Avenue des Arts. Inside, one of the rooms has been turned into a makeshift concert hall and three musicians with drawn, pale faces are taking a couple of deep breaths before striking up a Haydn trio. It's their first public outing and their nerves are palpable, but the audience couldn't be more supportive, listening intently and exchanging sympathetic smiles when the players falter, stop and start again. They had better be, mind you, because it may well be their turn next.
Chamber music used to be a hands-on affair, an occasion for family and friends to get together and while away the afternoon playing Schubert quartets. With the advent of recordings, however, the genre became the prerogative of a few jet-setting specialists, off limits to common mortals. But now a Brussels group, I Cambristi, is trying to give the genre back to amateurs and restore its former conviviality. Founded nearly five years ago by retired Brussels-based Danish engineer Franz Marcus it’s a pool of nearly 300 people from all walks of life whose idea of happiness is to make music with like-minded enthusiasts.
The concept is nothing new: a similar organisation has existed in Stockholm for the past 140 years and still stages weekly amateur concerts. There is also a sprawling network called the Amateur Chamber Music Players, which has thousands of members scattered across the US plus a few hundreds overseas. Marcus, who's a keen cellist himself and once toyed with the idea of going professional, is a member of both. That's what made him decide, together with
famous Belgian violinist Marc Danel, to start something similar here.
"We started out by collating the contact lists of a handful of musicians we knew," he remembers. "We ended up with about fifty names, whom we invited for a first evening - we didn't dare call it a concert - at the Chapelle de Boendael." The response was overwhelming: about 100 people turned up for that first meeting, and subsequent ones were just as successful.
The idea is simple: as you sign up for membership, you specify your instrument and level of ability. Your details then appear on a list, of which you receive a copy. After that, you can either wait by the phone for someone to call, or pluck up your courage and invite a couple of strangers to have a go at that Beethoven trio you always dreamt you'd be able to play one day.
The group is not centralised, so Marcus has no idea how many people meet up informally to rustle up impromptu concerts in their living rooms. What he does organise, however, are the monthly get-togethers in whichtself-formed ensembles perform a piece they've prepared in front of a sizeable audience of fellow Cambristi. While some get a kick out of playing in public, most find it a daunting experience. "The bow starts shaking uncontrollably, your eyes can't seem to focus on anything," says Marcus.
The Bulletin
October 28, 2004
That's not helped by the fact that chamber music, which boasts some of the most beautiful pieces in the classical repertoire, also requires specific skills: you're more exposed than in an orchestra, but you also have to learn to listen to others without trying to steal the show. "Some soloists are no good at it, " points out Marcus. "They're probably not interested in it either."
The monthly concerts, which used to be held at the Chapelle de Boendael in Ixelles but now change venues each time, welcome all levels, the only requirement being that each group has at least three players. "Otherwise we'd only hear sonatas," explains Marcus, "because so many of our members are pianists." The group also organises workshops at the Brussels Conservatory once or twice a year, when ensembles practise a piece under the supervision of a professional. These give many members the push they needed to brave the public.
While in traditional concert
performances, all the skills are concentrated on the virtuoso on stage and the audience is mostly made up of non-musicians, everyone at Cambristi get-togethers is a musician to some degree. "We all know what it's like to play a piece, so we live the music at the same time as the performer," says Marcus.
Also, in spite of the occasional glitch, the concerts can prove highly pleasing. "Professional performances are usually flawless, but they can also be a bit cold," he points out, "whereas an amateur musician can often express something else, convey a different insight or emotion. In the end, that's what it's all about: sharing music and the pleasure that's in it."
I Cambristi's next concert will be held on December 9 at the Saint-Denis church in Forest, at 20.00. Email franzmarcus@compuserve.com
Musical impromptus
Scores of amateur musicians in Brussels are getting together to make music, and nobody minds the odd missed note. Marie Dumont finds out more about this chamber music renaissance
On a chilly autumn evening, a cheerful, multilingual multilingual crowd is pressing into the Musee Charlier on Avenue des Arts. Inside, one of the rooms has been turned into a makeshift concert hall and three musicians with drawn, pale faces are taking a couple of deep breaths before striking up a Haydn trio. It's their first public outing and their nerves are palpable, but the audience couldn't be more supportive, listening intently and exchanging sympathetic smiles when the players falter, stop and start again. They had better be, mind you, because it may well be their turn next.
Chamber music used to be a hands-on affair, an occasion for family and friends to get together and while away the afternoon playing Schubert quartets. With the advent of recordings, however, the genre became the prerogative of a few jet-setting specialists, off limits to common mortals. But now a Brussels group, I Cambristi, is trying to give the genre back to amateurs and restore its former conviviality. Founded nearly five years ago by retired Brussels-based Danish engineer Franz Marcus it’s a pool of nearly 300 people from all walks of life whose idea of happiness is to make music with like-minded enthusiasts.
The concept is nothing new: a similar organisation has existed in Stockholm for the past 140 years and still stages weekly amateur concerts. There is also a sprawling network called the Amateur Chamber Music Players, which has thousands of members scattered across the US plus a few hundreds overseas. Marcus, who's a keen cellist himself and once toyed with the idea of going professional, is a member of both. That's what made him decide, together with
famous Belgian violinist Marc Danel, to start something similar here.
"We started out by collating the contact lists of a handful of musicians we knew," he remembers. "We ended up with about fifty names, whom we invited for a first evening - we didn't dare call it a concert - at the Chapelle de Boendael." The response was overwhelming: about 100 people turned up for that first meeting, and subsequent ones were just as successful.
The idea is simple: as you sign up for membership, you specify your instrument and level of ability. Your details then appear on a list, of which you receive a copy. After that, you can either wait by the phone for someone to call, or pluck up your courage and invite a couple of strangers to have a go at that Beethoven trio you always dreamt you'd be able to play one day.
The group is not centralised, so Marcus has no idea how many people meet up informally to rustle up impromptu concerts in their living rooms. What he does organise, however, are the monthly get-togethers in whichtself-formed ensembles perform a piece they've prepared in front of a sizeable audience of fellow Cambristi. While some get a kick out of playing in public, most find it a daunting experience. "The bow starts shaking uncontrollably, your eyes can't seem to focus on anything," says Marcus.
The Bulletin
October 28, 2004
That's not helped by the fact that chamber music, which boasts some of the most beautiful pieces in the classical repertoire, also requires specific skills: you're more exposed than in an orchestra, but you also have to learn to listen to others without trying to steal the show. "Some soloists are no good at it, " points out Marcus. "They're probably not interested in it either."
The monthly concerts, which used to be held at the Chapelle de Boendael in Ixelles but now change venues each time, welcome all levels, the only requirement being that each group has at least three players. "Otherwise we'd only hear sonatas," explains Marcus, "because so many of our members are pianists." The group also organises workshops at the Brussels Conservatory once or twice a year, when ensembles practise a piece under the supervision of a professional. These give many members the push they needed to brave the public.
While in traditional concert
performances, all the skills are concentrated on the virtuoso on stage and the audience is mostly made up of non-musicians, everyone at Cambristi get-togethers is a musician to some degree. "We all know what it's like to play a piece, so we live the music at the same time as the performer," says Marcus.
Also, in spite of the occasional glitch, the concerts can prove highly pleasing. "Professional performances are usually flawless, but they can also be a bit cold," he points out, "whereas an amateur musician can often express something else, convey a different insight or emotion. In the end, that's what it's all about: sharing music and the pleasure that's in it."
I Cambristi's next concert will be held on December 9 at the Saint-Denis church in Forest, at 20.00. Email franzmarcus@compuserve.com
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