Marcela Roggeri and Florent Héau, piano - clarinet

Voted “International Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year“ at the French Classical Music Awards (Victoires de la Musique) in 2006, the Argentinean pianist Marcela Roggeri has all the qualities of the great argentine piano tradition, as well as the zest we associate with South American artists. Born in Buenos Aires, she studied first of all with Ana Gelber. She was then coached by Bruno Leonardo Gelber, who became her mentor and with whom she gives her very first concert at the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires conducted by Pedro Ignacio Calderon. After touring Argentina and other Latin American countries, she came to Europe (Germany, Italy and France) for a first series of concerts in duet with Bruno Leonardo Gelber. Having appreciated the working atmosphere she found in Europe, she decided to move to Paris to perfect her playing and starts giving recitals and concerts under fine conductors, such as Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, James Judd, Kasper de Roo, George Pehlivanian, Kyung Soo Wong, Mario Benzecri, Simon Blech, Pedro I. Calderon, Petr Altrichter, Philippe Bender, Andres Orozco, Emmanuel Leducq-Barome. Marcela Roggeri makes solo appearances with the Philharmonic and Symphonic Orchestras of Buenos Aires, Dortmund Philharmonic, the Florida Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, the Bohemian Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Cannes-Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur, the European Camerata, the Baltic Camerata… In 2000 Marcela Roggeri gave a memorable concert with the Brazilian pianist Marcelo Bratke at the Wigmore Hall in London for the release of their CD dedicated to the complete works for two pianos by Aaron Copland: “The Open Prairie“. The critics were unanimous in their acclaim. The Independent described the concert as ‘uniquely exciting... the pianists only looked at each other when they started a piece because they felt the music together’. And the Royal Academy Magazine added: ‘the pianists performed a spirited programme of music that almost had us dancing in the aisles of the Wigmore Hall...’ Marcela Roggeri continues to work with Marcelo Bratke giving several performances combining two pianos and percussion with Meninos do Morumbi and Charanga two bands of musicians drawn from the favelas of Brazil. The concerts were an extraordinary success wherever they performed, from the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London to the concert halls of France,Brazil and Argentina. This project also shows Marcela Roggeri's personal commitment to charity work and she often gives concerts and masterclasses in aid of charity organisations fighting against poverty. She enjoys playing with other artists such as violinist Pablo Saravi, cellist Ophélie Gaillard, soprano Katarina Jovanovic, soprano Magali Léger, violinist Marina Chiche and clarinetist Florent Héau. Her recordings “Pièces pour piano“ d’Erik Satie, Domenico Scarlatti “Piano Sonatas“, and the “Complete Works for piano solo“ by Sofia Gubaidulina, all with the label Transart Live, have been highly acclaimed by the international press. Critics are unanimous to greet “the most french of argentinian pianists“ as she is now nicknamed.The Magazine Classique News and Le Monde de la Musique stress her “pianistic qualities“ Marcela likes to combine different disciplines: she works with indian dancer Ash Mukherjee and shows to the public not only the music but also the texts of Erik Satie with the programme “L’Univers d’Erik Satie“, together with François Castang. In Latin America she creates the concert “Satie y los Otros“ with actors China Zorrilla and Jean-Pierre Noher and with actress Elena Tasisto the show “Vivir en el Fuego“ with poems by Marina Tsvetaeva and music by Sofia Gubaidulina. Marcela lives in London. She regularly gives solo egularly in recital, with orchestra or in chamber music. Her extensive repertoire spans from Scarlatti to Gubaidulina, from Soler to Copland, without forgetting the composers from her Latin American roots: Villa-Lobos,Ginastera, Guastavino and Piazzolla.

Formed at the Paris Conservatory (CNSM de Paris) in Michel Arrignon’s class, and after having received several First Prizes in international competitions, Florent Héau has quickly established himself as one of the most important figures of the French clarinet school. A brilliant tradition he himself relentlessly perpetuates throughout the world, whether by giving concerts or masterclasses. Florent Héau has contributed to several creations such as Chant des Ténèbres (concerto for clarinet and orchestra) by Thierry Escaich, Aizgor by Félix Ibarrondo, Sonatina lapidaria by Nicolas Bacri and Encore de Karol Beffa. Invited to various festivals (Prades, Deauville Folles Journées de Nantes, Bel-Air in Chambery, Orangerie de Sceaux), Florent Héau continues to expand his circle of partners in chamber music, including Marielle Nordmann, Marcela Roggeri, Magali Léger, Gerard Causse, Roland Pidoux, Henri Demarquette, Jérôme Ducros, Régis Pasquier, Gaëlle Solal, Patrice Fontanarosa, the Capuçon brothers and the Prazak, Manfred and Parisii quartets. He has appeared as a soloist with the European Camerata, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio and the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and has most recently been in recital in Monaco, Hungary, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Poland, London, Argentina… In addition to being an exceptional musician, Florent Héau is also a real showman, whose multiple talents get exposed in the musical theater shows with the “Bons Becs”, with his clarinet (of course) but also with the musical saw and even through tap dance. The ensemble travels extensively, and has most recently been on tour in Japan, South Korea, and Belgium and will soon be touring in China. Being a renowned teacher, Florent Héau is a professor of clarinet at the CNR of Rueil-Malmaison and is regularly invited to teach in many European countries Latin America and Asia (China, South Korea etc). Over the years, he has had continuous success with his recordings of divers programs, including Sonatas by Brahms and Reger (with Patrick Zygmanowski), the Trios of Beethoven (with Jérôme Ducros and Henri Demarquette), pieces for clarinet and strings by Nicolas Bacri, the chamber works of Mozart (with Manfred Quartet) and the Concerto for Clarinet by Mozart (with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Transart Live label). His latest album, a CD with pianist Marcela Roggeri dedicated to the Argentine composer Carlos Guastavino (Transart Live) was released in November 2010 and the duo has toured in Paris, London and Argentina performing Guastavino’s works with great success.