C Barré, an instrumental ensemble under the artistic and musical direction of Sébastien Boin, is the result of a meeting between 12 musicians. This singular group, currently associated with the GMEM - Centre national de création musicale, is made up of rich, passionate personalities deeply invested in the creation and dissemination of contemporary repertoire.

The predominance of plucked strings, as well as instruments whose use was only exceptional until recently, gives the ensemble a distinct personality within today's musical landscape. Based in Marseille, which is both the first port and the oldest city in France, it is easy to notice C Barré's regular attachment to the composers of the Mediterranean basin.

Wishing to share its taste for creation with an ever-widening public, C Barré undertakes numerous awareness-raising and transmission actions. In this sense, the ensemble devotes part of its work to the training of young audiences, essential to the development of contemporary music. Among these, the Ensemble is launching in 2021 its travelling project Palimpseste for which it carries out musical walks in rural or urban areas, the result of real surveys carried out in each territory, at the end of which the inhabitants and the musicians of C Barré meet on stage for participative creations.

C Barré produced a first monographic recording dedicated to composer Frédéric Pattar, released in 2020 by empreinte digitale. A second monographic recording dedicated to the young Basque-Spanish composer Mikel Urquiza, with the participation of the Neue Vocalsolisten, was released in February 2023 by the same label, on the occasion of the Présences 2023 festival.

For the 2023-2024 season, C Barré is preparing with the Neue Vocalsolisten of Stuttgart the creation of a large-scale work by the composer Francesca Verunelli. This new project, entitled Songs and Voices, will be performed at the Venice Biennale, and will be heard at the Eclat festival in Stuttgart, at the GRAME Biennale des Musiques Exploratoires, at the GMEM Propagations festival and at the Ircam ManiFeste festival.

The GMEM and the ensemble C Barré have joined forces to pool their human and technical resources. The objective is to :

- to promote the presence of creative music in Marseille, the Bouches-du-Rhône department and the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- to facilitate regional, national and international networking - to deploy common resources for productions

Beyond that, the two parties agree on a common will to join forces in a broader spirit of cooperation in order to meet their common missions towards musical creation, reception and training of the public.

C Barré, ensemble associated with GMEM - Centre national de la création musicale, partner of the CFMI of Aix-Marseille University. The ensemble is subsidized by the Ministère de la Culture DRAC-PACA, the Conseil Régional Sud - PACA, the Département des Bouches-du-Rhône and the Ville de Marseille, and receives support from SACEM, CNM - Centre National de la Musique, ADAMI, MMC - Maison de la Musique Contemporaine, Institut Français, Impuls Neue Musik, Fondation Ernst Von Siemes, Politique de la Ville, label des Cités éducatives, Fondation Logirem and BNP Paribas. Member of FEVIS, PROFEDIM, Futurs Composés and Temp'óra.
Fondation d'entreprise Société Générale C'est vous l'avenir and Fondation Orange are the main sponsors of Ensemble C Barré.


The musicians

Joël Versavaud
saxophone

Annelise Clément
clarinet

Matthias Champon
trumpet

Natalia Korsak
mandolin

Claudio Bettinelli
percussion

Élodie Soulard
accordion

Rémy Reber
guitar

Eva Debonne
harp

Marine Rodallec
cello

Charlotte Testu
double bass

Cyril Dupuy
cymbalum

Antoine Alerini
pianist


The Chief

Sébastien Boin
direction
Ensemble C Barré
Instrumental ensemble associated with GMEM
To listen

Useful links
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