La Danse macabre

Violon dans le soir - poem by Anna de Noailles

Extase - poem by Victor Hugo

Mélodies persanes op.26 n°1, La brise - poem by Armand Renaud

Mélodies persanes op.26 n°1, Le Tournoiement (Rêve d'orient) - poem by Armand Renaud

Clair de lune - poem by Catulle Mendès

Chanson napolitaine - poem by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré

Suzette et Suzon - poem by Victor Hugo

L'Étoile - poem by Prince Haïdar-Pacha

Le Soir - poem by Madeleine Desbordes-Walmore

Viens ! - poem by Victor Hugo

El Desdichado

Ave Maria in A Major

Le Carnaval des animaux, Le Cygne

Élégie op.160

The Academy artists in residency are paying a tribute to one of the most prolix French composers of his century. A contemporary of Victor Hugo, Camille Saint-Saëns belongs to the musicians who were close to poets of their time.From the world-wide known Danse macabre to The Carnival of the Animals, rediscover his most famous pieces and virtuosic songs for voices and chamber orchestra. Picture: © Studio j’adore ce que vous faites / OnP

Concert Saint-Saëns

The Academy artists in residency are paying a tribute to one of the most prolix French composers of his century. A contemporary of Victor Hugo, Camille Saint-Saëns belongs to the musicians who were close to poets of their time. From the world-wide kn

Camille Saint-Saëns

Saint-Saëns concert

Born in Paris on October 9, 1835, Camille Saint-Saëns showed an early gift for music. A child prodigy on piano, organ, and composition, he gave his first private recital at the age of four and a half (reported in the Moniteur Universel of August 1, 1840), and at eleven he performed in public at the Salle Pleyel. He entered the Conservatoire at the age of thirteen and won the first prize for organ in 1851. At the age of eighteen, he was appointed organist of the Saint-Merri church and created his first symphony. In 1857, he became titular of the Cavaillé-Coll organ at the church of La Madeleine, a position he held for twenty years. Liszt hailed Saint-Saëns as "the first organist in the world". From 1861 to 1865, he taught piano at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, where his students included Gabriel Fauré and André Messager. Although he failed twice in the Prix de Rome competition, he quickly became well known. As a composer, he distinguished himself in all fields: twelve operas, including La Princesse jaune (1872), Samson et Dalila (1877), Henri VIII (1883), Déjanire (1911), religious works, including a Messe solennelle and a Requiem, numerous oratorios, symphonic poems (Le Rouet d'Omphale, 1871; Phaéton, 1873; La Danse macabre, 1875), five symphonies, the last of which, called No. 3, with organ (1886), five piano concertos, three violin concertos and two for cello, chamber music, picturesque pieces (Le Carnaval des animaux, 1886), etc. In 1908, he was the first renowned composer to write a film score, for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise. In addition to his own compositional work, he collaborated in the publication of the works of Gluck, Beethoven, Liszt, Mozart and, in the 1870s, he wrote regularly in newspapers, including La Gazette musicale. In 1871, he founded the Société nationale de musique with Romain Bussine, Alexis de Castillon, Gabriel Fauré, César Franck, Louis Lalo. The society encouraged French music and created works by Saint-Saëns, Chabrier, Debussy, Dukas and Ravel. In 1886, he broke with the Société nationale de musique, because they decided to play foreign composers. In 1901, he was elected president of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Polyglot, he has a taste for travel and travels the continents to give concerts and recitals, attend performances of his works and promote French music and culture. From 1873, he regularly visited Algeria and Egypt. He died in Algiers on December 16, 1921.

In residency at the Paris Opera Academy from 2019 to 2021 Born in Switzerland, Andrea Cueva Molnar began her studies in the class of Carmen Casellas at the Montreux-Vevey-Riviera Conservatory of Music. After obtaining her baccalauréat in 2012, she joined the Geneva High School of Music. In 2014, she continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende in Frankfurt, in Hedwig Fassbender and Klesie Kelly-Moog's classes. Between 2016 and 2019, she sang in five young audience productions at the Frankfurt Opera: Onegin for children, Tosca for children, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Bohème and Die Kleine Opernwelt. In July 2019, as part of the Junge Oper Schloss Weikersheim, she performed the role of Mimi in La Bohème.Andrea Cueva Molnar won the ADAMI Prize in 2018, she also won the Second female prize in the Opera category of the Lyrical Nights of Marmande in 2020.

She joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2019. 

She took part in the Paris Opera Academy's tour in China and performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Shenyanget Poly Theater, and the Nanjing Jiangsu Art Theater. She performed on the stage of the Palais Garnier as the Princess in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges in January 2020. For her second season at the Paris Opera Academy, she portrayed Belinda in Dido and Æneas at the "Voix d'automne" Festival in Evian, conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón, and the Female Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s Rape of Lucretia at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord.During the season 2021/2022, she sang Silvia in L'isola disabitata at the Dijon Opera and Poussette (Manon), a Young Woman (Le Nozze di Figaro) and a Flowermaiden (Parsifal) at the Paris Opera.

Cueva Molnar.Andrea (c) Ariel Leuenberger

Trained at the Académie de l'Opéra national de ParisBorn in Normandy, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur trained with Maryse Castets at the Bordeaux Conservatoire after studying at Sciences Po Bordeaux. She joins the Académie de l'Opéra national de Paris from 2019 to 2021. She takes part in the Salzburg Festival's Young Singers Project as the Second Lady (Cherubini's Médée) with the Wiener Philharmoniker, and performs in recital with the Mozarteum Orchestra.Named one of the revelations of lyric artists at the Victoires de la Musique awards, she sings Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande) and Ethel (Les Éclairs) at the Opéra Comique, the Third Lady (The Magic Flute) at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and Mère Marie (Dialogues des carmélites) at the Opéra national de Bordeaux. In 2023-2024, she is Siegrune (La Walkyrie) at La Monnaie de Bruxelles, Mrs Meg Page (Falstaff) at the Opéra royal de Wallonie, Marguerite (Le Retour de Virginie) with the Orchestre national de Lyon. This season, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur is the viola in Mahler's Second Symphony with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, and in Romeo Castellucci's staging of Néris (Cherubini's Médée) at the Opéra Comique and Opéra de Montpellier. She also played the viola in Israël en Egypte at the Haendel Festspiele Halle, conducted by Hervé Niquet, and recorded Massenet melodies for the Bru Zane label.At the Opéra national de Paris: L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (La Libellule, La Tasse chinoise, Maman), 2020; Le Viol de Lucrèce (Lucretia), 2021; Parsifal (Ein Klingsors Zaubermadchen, Ein Knappe), 2022; Wozzeck (Margret), 2022; The Magic Flute (Second Lady), 2022; Le Trouvère (Ines), 2022; Falstaff (Mrs Meg Page), 2024

Bouchard-Lesieur.Marie-Andrée © 

Born in Chicago, Alexander York is a graduate of Lawrence University (Wisconsin). He won numerous scholarships such as those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the arte-musica Foundation and the Fulbright Zscholar Program, which allowed him to continue his education in Europe. He obtained a master's degree at the Munich Musikhochschule under the direction of Lars Woldt, Rudi Spring, and Donald Sulzen.&nbsp;He performed the following roles at the Augsburg Theater: Angelotti and Sciarrone in Tosca, the Captain in Simplicius Simplicissimus by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Weickmann and Fuhrmann in Kaspar Hauser by Hans Thomalla,the herald in Verdi's Otello and Belcore in the L'Elisir d'amore by Donizetti. In 2016, he participated in Renée Fleming's master classes at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He created the role of James Ramsey at the world premiere of To the Lighthouse by Zesses Seglias in August 2017 at the Bregenz Festival. He gave a recital at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam and also performed in Munich with the Munich Radio Symphony. He played the role of Bedienter in Der zerbrochene Krug by Viktor Ulmann.&nbsp;For his first season at the Paris Opera Academy, the baritone sang Dr. Falke in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus at the MC93 in Bobigny and then on tour. In January 2020, he is l’Horloge and le Chat in L’Enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel on the stage of the Palais Garnier.&nbsp;He received the John Moriarty Award as a young artist in residence at the Central City Opera of Denvers in 2015 for his participation in the company's productions. The Bel Canto Society of Chicago gave him an honorary award and he received the second prize in the Mélodie and Oratorio category of the American Prize.&nbsp;Alexander York joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2018.

York

Trained at the Académie de l'Opéra national de ParisGraduating from Aberdeen University in 2016, Niall Anderson continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He took part in a number of competitions, including the Pavarotti Prize in 2019. His repertoire includes the roles of Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Escamillo (Marius Constant's Carmen Tragedy), Somnus (Sémélé) and Bertrand (Iolanta). He took part in several concerts in Europe, including Bach's St John Passion in Würselen, Germany.Particularly interested in contemporary music, he performed the baritone part of Paul Mealor's Symphony no. 1 (Passiontide) at its premiere in Wales. He sings Haydn's Nelson Mass, Mozart's Requiem and Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle. He sings the Orator in The Magic Flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London.In September 2020, Niall Anderson joins the Académie de l'Opéra national de Paris, for two seasons. He has recently performed the roles of Allazim (Zaide) at Opéra de Rennes and Angers Nantes Opéra, and the Sacristain (Tosca) and Knyaz Gremin (Eugène Onéguine) at Northern Ireland Opera.At the Opéra national de Paris: A Quiet Place (Mourner), 2022; The Magic Flute (Erster Priester, Zweiter Geharnischter Mann), 2022, 2024

Anderson.Niall (c)

From South Carolina, Aaron Pendleton studied music at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, at Johnson C. Smith University and at the State University of Arizona. He attended various masterclasses included those of Sherrill Milnes. In 2019, he took part in the creation of 27 by Ricky Ian Gordon at the Opera of Las Vegas. At the Opera Studio of Las Vegas University, he sang Leaf in State of Grace by Linda Lister, Sky’s father in No Guarantees by Cynthia Wong and the Marquis de la Force in the Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc. In 2020, he performed the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte and Olin Blitch in Susannah by Carlisle Floyd. First price of the Metropolitan Opera Competition in Arizona and finalist in Denver (Colorado) in 2019, Aaron Pendleton joined the national Opera Academy in September 2020.

Born in Paris, Yoan Brakha began the violin at the age of 8. He received numerous prizes for young violinist and obtained with congratulations his diplomas from the Aulnay-Sous-Bois Conservatory and the Schola Cantorum of Paris. He studied at the Universität Der Künste in Berlin and alongside Marc Danel at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique de Lyon where he graduated a master’s degree. Soloist for the Orchestre de Chambre de Montpellier and the Orchestre du Centre Philharmonique, he shared the stage with artists like Marc Danel, Yovan Markovitch, Jean Sulem, Claudio Bohotquez, Christoph Richter, Konstantin Bogino, Miguel Da Silva and Tanja Becker-Bender. Laureate of the Société Générale Musical Sponsorship and the ADAMI fund, he performed in many European countries: Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), Crans-Montana festival (Switzerland), Ortús Chamber Music Festival (Ireland) and works with international artists like Shlomo Mintz, Hagai Shaham, Jean-Marc Phillips, Olivier Charlier, Silvia Marcovici, Guillaume Sutre and Bruno Pasquier. Yoan Brakha joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2019.

YOHAN BRAKHA 

Roxanne Rabatti started the violin at the age of 5 in Rodez and obtained her Musical Studies Diploma at the Conservatory of Toulouse at the age of 17. She entered the Conservatoire national Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMDP) in 2015 where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2017 in the class of Boris Garlitsky and her master’s degree in 2020 in the class of Alexis Galpérine.&nbsp;Committed to orchestral playing and and chamber music ensembles, she joined the Youth French Orchestra for three years. She co-created the Kalik Quartet in 2018 and worked alongside Jean Sulem in the department dedicated to the string quartet at the CNSMDP. Teaching occupies an important part of her musical evolution, she has given violin classes at the Conservatory of Villeneuve-la-Garenne since 2016.&nbsp;Roxanne Rabatti joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2020.

Julien

Edward Liddall was born in London and began his musical training at the Royal College of Music in 2001. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music at King’s College, Cambridge in 2011 under the guidance of Thalia Myers. In 2014, he graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the guidance of Caroline Palmer. During his training, he took part in the Prussia Cove International Music Seminar where he followed the masterclasses of Thomas Adès and Malcolm Martineau. In 2015, he won first prize for accompanying pianist at the Maureen Lehane Awards and, in 2017, he was a finalist in the Young Classical Artists Trust at Wigmore Hall. He also accompanied the violinist Amarins Wierdsma on tour in the Netherlands and Slovakia as part of The New Masters project. He then played a musical and dramatic role in the Iain Burnside play Why Does The Queen Die? at the Oxford Lieder Festival. In 2014, he performed in the production of Jean-Luc Révol’s Où donc est tombée ma jeunesse? at the Comédie de Picardie with tenor Edmund Hastings and violinist Michael Foyle.He makes regular radio appearances on music programmes for the BBC (Radio 3) and for Dutch National Radio. In July 2018, he participated in The Art of Recital summer residency at the Aix Festival where he accompanied the soprano Louise Kemény under the direction of Stéphane Degout and Alain Planès. Edward Liddall is joining the Paris Opera Academy in September 2018.

Liddall

In 2016, Félix Ramos obtained his State Diploma as an accompanist from the Centre d’études supérieures de Musique et de Danse de Poitou-Charentes and a specialization prize from the Conservatory in Versailles. In 2017, he entered the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris in the class of Erika Guiomar. There, he studied melody and Led with Jeff Cohen. Also trained in conducting orchestras by Catherine Simonpietri, Alexandre Piquion and Claire Levacher, he took part in 2019 in the Mozart Residency of the International Festival of Aix-en-Provence. He worked with conductors such as Raphael Pichon, Marco Guidarini and Tito Ceccherini. Particularly interested in the contemporary repertoire, he participated in the production of Macbeth by Pascal Dusapin at Rouen Opera. Félix Ramos joined the Paris Opera Academy in September 2020.

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