Gerard Lesne

Gérard Lesne (born July 15, 1956 in Montmorency ) is a French singer ( countertenor ) and conductor.

Life

Gérard Lesne had little formal musical training in his youth, but studied music at the Sorbonne for some time . Since 1979 he has performed as a rock and jazz singer. Here he was noticed by the Belgian singer Zeger Vandersteene , who brought him into contact with René Clemencic , a specialist in early music. From 1979 he belonged to the ensemble Clemencic Consort . As a member of Les Arts Florissants (1984-90) under William Christie , he got to know the repertoire of the French Baroque. From 1988 to 1992 he sang music from German baroque composers in Philippe Herreweghe's ensembles La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent . In 1990 Harmonia Mundi released two albums with sacred works by Bach .

In 1985 Lesne founded the Il Seminario Musicale ensemble , with which he initially devoted himself to the music of Italian baroque composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti , Antonio Vivaldi and Alessandro Stradella . Musicians such as Marc Minkowski , Fabio Biondi , Blandine Rannou , Patrick Cohën-Akenine , Bruno Cocset , Benjamin Perrot , Florence Malgoire and Violaine Cochard worked with the ensemble . In 2005 a five-part album with French sacred music was released.

Since 1993, Lesne has been director of the annual master classes at Royaumont Abbey , where he also gives singing classes . In 2004 he was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres .

personal data
SURNAME	Lesne, Gérard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French singer (countertenor) and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH	July 15, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH	Montmorency