Florence Katz is a contemporary French a mezzo-soprano, graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris, she is also a singing teacher at the Conservatory of Bourg-la-Reine/Sceaux. She specializes in the French repertoire. She is a recipient of the Darius Milhaud Prize.
A pupil of Régine Crespin and Gabriel Bacquier at the Conservatoire de Paris, Katz completed three years of training at the Studio of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (conducted by Rachel Yakar and René Jacobs, then Marc Minkowski), as well as master classes with Daniel Ferro, Ileana Cotrubas, Suzanne Danco, Irène Joachim, Gérard Lesne, Janine Reiss, Gérard Souzay.
Katz sang with conductors Jonathan Darlington, Emmanuelle Haïm, Marc Minkowski, Manuel Rosenthal, Christophe Rousset, Marc Soustrot, and with pianists David Abramovitz, Solange Chiapparin, Jeff Cohen, Serge Cyferstein, [1] Billy Eidi, Marie-Catherine Girod, Christian Ivaldi, Maciej Pikulski, Alain Planès, Mercedes Proteau, Laure Rivierre, [2] Marie-Pascale Talbot, [3] Alexandre Tharaud, Jean-François Zygel... and with Leonie Rysanek, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Rockwell Blake, Ruggero Raimondi...
Katz performed in Paris (Auditorium du Louvre, Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Opéra-comique, Opéra Bastille, Salle Cortot, Salle Pleyel, Sorbonne,...), Versailles (Opéra du château, Trianon, Théâtre de la Reine, Théâtre Montansier...), Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Geneva, Munich, Dresden, Madrid, Kiev.
Darius Milhaud was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and Brazilian music and make extensive use of polytonality. Milhaud is considered one of the key modernist composers. A renowned teacher, he taught many future jazz and classical composers, including Burt Bacharach, Dave Brubeck, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis among others.
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably Antigone, composed between 1924 and 1927 to the French libretto by Jean Cocteau based on the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. It premiered on 28 December 1927 at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie with sets designed by Pablo Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel. However, his most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which was inspired by the sound of a steam locomotive.
"Les Six" is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name has its origins in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in Comœdia. Their music is often seen as a neoclassic reaction against both the musical style of Richard Wagner and the impressionist music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
Roger Désormière was a French conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music.
Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert was a French composer of classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.
La Création du monde, Op. 81a, is a 15-minute-long ballet composed by Darius Milhaud in 1922–23 to a libretto by Blaise Cendrars, which outlines the creation of the world based on African folk mythology. The premiere took place on 25 October 1923 at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Marie François Maurice Emmanuel was a French composer of classical music and musicologist born in Bar-sur-Aube, a small town in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northeastern France. It was there where he first heard his grandfather's printing press which according to his granddaughter, Anne Eichner-Emmanuel, first gave him the feeling of rhythm.
Véronique Gens is a French operatic soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music.
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt is a French tenor, mostly as an opera singer. He was born on 30 August 1958 at Blanzy in the Burgundy region. He is best known for singing French Baroque music, especially the parts called in French haute-contre, written for a very high tenor voice with no falsetto singing.
Madeleine Grey was a French classical singer whose voice is usually described as soprano but which also encompassed a mezzo-soprano repertoire.
Roger Bourdin was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France. His daughter is Françoise Bourdin.
Hélène Bouvier was a French operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French repertoire.
Henri Collet was a French composer and music critic who lived in Paris.
Marcel-François-Georges Delannoy was a French composer and critic. He wrote operas, ballets, orchestral works, vocal and chamber works, and film scores.
Jean-François Gardeil is a French baritone and theatre director. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Chants de Garonne.
Jean-Louis Haguenauer is a French classical pianist.
Billy Eidi is a French classical pianist of Lebanese background.
Bernard Deletré is a French operatic bass-baritone.
Suzanne Berchut, called Suzanne Balguerie was a French operatic singer. Admired by Fauré, Dukas, Poulenc, and Messiaen, she was one of the greatest sopranos of the interwar period.
The Ludwig Quartet is a French string quartet ensemble founded in 1985 and leading an international career. It is composed of Sébastien Surel, Manuel Doutrelant, Violaine Despeyroux (viola) and Anne Copéry (violoncello).