BIOGRAPHY
« FIRST AND FOREMOST, OUR GOAL IS TO BREAK DOWN WALLS AND OVERCOME BOUNDARIES »
The mariage of the piano and the bandonion
The Duo Intermezzo marries percussion with breath, rhythm with respiration, classical music with popular poetry. The two mythical and iconic instruments from the European and South American musical traditions form an atypical but extremely coherent duo; bourgeois salon culture mixes with the nerve and verve of the slums in a common cause. Pianist Marielle Gars and bandoneonist Sébastien Authemayou created Duo Intermezzo in 2006 with the aim of resolving this apparent paradox.
Originals arrangements
Marielle Gars and Sébastien Authemayou offer an innovative, energetic and passionate vision of Piazzolla’s work. Their interpretation highlights the emotive duality of Argentinian tango, moving from melancholy and sadness to rage and despair.
Curious and inventive musicians
They are always looking to develop and enrich their repertoire : this is how they explore and transcribe for their duo Jean-Sébastien Bach's music - inexhaustible source of inspiration and richness. Their research also takes them across the Atlantic to discover several Latin American countries and their most beautiful musical pages (Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador).
On June 23 & 24, 2021, they will perform with the prestigious argentinians musicians Roberto Aussel and Raúl Barboza in the salons of the Argentinian Republic Embassy in Paris for two exceptional evenings in tribute to Astor Piazzolla, concerts scheduled in the framework of the official international festivities celebrating the centenary of the maestro's birth, with the support of the Piazzolla Foundation in Buenos Aires and the Piazzolla100 platform.
A duo hailed by national and international critics
• Awarded Coup de Coeur 2021 by the Charles Cros Academy
• Astor Piazzolla Buenos Aires Foundation
• Selected by France Musique • Clic by Classiquenews
• Télérama • FIP / Radio France • Selection FNAC • Culture Jazz
• France 3 • France Musique • Radio Classique • France Inter • RCF • France Bleue • Europe 1 • TSF Jazz • Radio Canada • Radio Klara Belgique • RTBF • Musiq3 • RTS • Radio Nacional Clásica Buenos Aires • AM750 Argentina • Radio Continental Argentina • Radio 4 National Pays-Bas
• Le Monde • Diapason • La Croix • La Vie • L'Histoire • La Dépêche du Midi • La Montagne • Midi Libre • La Provence • Le Dauphiné • Elle Magazine • La République des Pyrénées • TV5 Monde • Magazine Klassik Allemagne • Magazine Interlude Honk Kong • El Correo Espagne • El Comercio Equateur • Le Temps (Swiss) • Diario de Cultura Buenos Aires
Renowned stages and festivals
The Duo Intermezzo is invited to perform in France or abroad in the most prestigious musical meetings such as the Nice C'est pas Classique Festival, the Radio France Montpellier Occitanie Festival or the Turin Jazz Club (Italy), International Chamber Music Festival of Vitoria Gasteiz (Spain), Aste Nagusia in Bilbao (Spain), the Casa de la Música in Quito or the Centro Cultural Manabi in Portoviejo (Ecuador).
On July 9, 2019, the whole work of the two musicians is rewarded by Rubén Darío Giustozzi, Ambassador of Argentina in Ecuador who gives them a diploma commending the high quality of their performances and their significant contribution to the diffusion of tango and Argentinian culture around the world!
Event
Since december 2020, discover LIBERTAD : a new project simultaneously literary, biographical and musical around the charismatic Astor Piazzolla. Thereby, the Duo Intermezzo signs an event disc book : the first complete biography of the Maestro never written and published in French, accompanied by testimonies, rare documents and a novel recording covering the composer's greatest period of activity.
THE MUSICIANS
Sébastien Authemayou
bandonion
Sébastian Authemayou began his musical studies at Aurillac and Tulle (France), before integrating the Conservatoires of Saint-Etienne and Marseille, notably studying the bandoneon under Albert Hamann. Winner of numerous national and international competitions, including the Max Francy prize (France), the CNFA prize (France) and the Carlo Civardi prize (Italy), he regularly appears as a guest soloist with different orchestras or ensembles : Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toulon Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Instrumental de Mayenne, Correspondances Compagnie, Ensemble Una Stella and Ateliers Polyphoniques 83 and performs with international figures such as the Slovenian bass-baritone Marcos Fink, the Canadian violinist Corey Cerovsek, the German organist Peter Dicke, the guitarists Sébastien Llinares and Philippe Spinosi (Ensemble Matheus) and the dramatist Orianne Moretti.
Concerts also take him beyond the borders of France : in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Ecuador... On July 9, 2019, all of his work with Marielle Gars is rewarded with a diploma - delivered by Rubén Darío Giustozzi, Ambassador of Argentina in Ecuador during a concert at the Casa de la Música of Quito - a great gesture that salutes the singular interpretations of the Duo and its important contribution to the difusion of tango and Argentinian culture throughout the world.
In November 2019, he was invited by the prestigious Argentian guitarist Roberto Aussel to perform with him the Piazzolla's double concerto for bandonion, guitar and string orchestra Hommage à Liège. The concert is given at the opening of the 6th Viva la Guitarra International Festival in the splendid Robert Schumann hall of the Palace of Arts, in Düsseldorf (Germany). Director Thomas Gabrisch conducts the Ratingen Sinfonietta string ensemble for the occasion.
Bandoneonist and founder of the Duo Intermezzo, Sébastien Authemayou is also a composer, arranger and member of SACEM (French Society of Music Authors and Composers). As such, he collaborates with numerous artists, authors and performers whom he accompanies on stage or during their studio recordings.
Marielle Gars
piano
After studying in the Conservatoires of Nîmes and Valence-Romans-Agglo (France), Marielle Gars continued her musical studies at the Lyon Conservatoire. Winning first prize for piano performance and chamber music, she participated in several masterclasses directed by figures including Hervé Billaut, Pascal Godart, Pierre-Laurent Boucharlat and Véronique Pélissero. After Lyon, she spent seven years studying in Paris under Monique Deschaussées, a follower of the legendary pianists Alfred Cortot and Edwin Fischer.
Marielle Gars performs in quintet, quartet and orchestra, notably alongside musicians from the most prestigious orchestras such as the Czech violinist Petr Ruzicka (Ensemble Matheus, Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble Marc Minkowski) or Stéphane Henoch (Orchester National de France) during concerts with the Una Stella Ensemble conducted by Philippe Spinosi.
She founded the Duo Intermezzo in 2006 with Sébastien Authemayou and has performed in numerous festivals in France and abroad (Italy, Spain, Ecuador) : she plays, among others, at the Radio France Montpellier Occitanie Festival, at the Lyon Pianissimes Festival, at the Paris Sunset Jazz Club, Turin Jazz Club, Bilbao Aste Nagusia Festival, International Music Festival of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Casa de la Música in Quito and Centro Cultural Manabi of Portoviejo, International JS Bach Festival of Saint-Donat, chaired by Frédéric Lodéon, at the Sylvanès Abbey International Festival, during the concert season of the Grand Avignon Opéra or at the Paris Goethe Institut.
His work is very frequently praised by the press (Télérama, Culture Jazz, Classiquenews) and broadcast on national and international radios such as France Musique, France Inter, France Bleu, Radio Classique or Radio Canada. The last three recordings of the Duo Intermezzo were also awarded and selected “France Music Choice”.