Ensemble Jupiter
Created in 2018 by lutenist Thomas Dunford, Ensemble Jupiter was born from the meetings and friendships he has formed with brilliant musicians of his generation: among them Lea Desandre, Jean Rondeau, Douglas Balliett, Bruno Philippe, Sophie Gent, Thibaut Garcia and Peter Whelan. The great freedom, listening skills and improvisation acquired by each of them over the years allow them to perform a wide-ranging repertoire; from Vivaldi, Handel, Destouches, Couperin and Francesco Mancini through to Joaquín Rodrigo and original compositions by Thomas Dunford and Douglas Balliett.
In 2021/22, the Ensemble Jupiter performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Opéra de Bordeaux, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Opéra de Rouen Normandie, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Festival de Fénétrange and the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise. They also appeared at the Phillips Collection in Washington and at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of an American tour in March 2022.
Ensemble Jupiter‘s first disc, released in autumn 2019 for the Alpha label, is dedicated to Vivaldi. Alternating extracts from operas and instrumental concertos, it highlights the different soloists of the ensemble. The success of the project has been documented in numerous awards, among them the Caecilia Prize awarded by the Union of the Belgian Music Press and, in 2020, an International Classical Music Award (ICMA). In September 2020, Ensemble Jupiter recorded its second album Amazone, a recital by Lea Desandre, for the Erato-Warner Classics label. This new disc highlights French and Italian arias from the 17th and 18th centuries. The programme, built in collaboration with musicologist Yannis François, gives pride of place to unjustly forgotten pieces, some of which have never been played since their creation.
The Ensemble Jupiter is supported by the Caisse des Dépôts (principal sponsor) and by Clément Sauvage, and participates in the residency programme of the Fondation Singer-Polignac. The Ensemble Jupiter is a member of FÉVIS and PROFEDIM.