Thomas Van Essen, singer and Director of Music
Thomas Van Essen is a researcher, flautist and singer, dedicated to early music. He pursued academic studies in History and Musicology. Following vocal training with Jean-Louis Paya, Howard Crook and Margreet Honig, he was invited for solo engagements with numerous ensembles : Huelgas, Les musiciens du Louvre, La Fenice, Akademia… and under the conductor Barthold Kuijken. For Martin Gester and his Parlement de Musique he was a soloist in Charpentier’s Te Deum and in the motets of de Lalande at several festivals : Versailles, Saint-Michel en Thiérache, Lessay, …
As musicologist, flutist and singer, he played an active part in the La Fenice Charpentier project, which included concerts at the Ambronay festival and a recording for Ricercar (October 2004). He has made few CDs of french baroque music for exemple with the organist Benjamin ALARD.
In recital with pianist Emmanuel REIBEL, Thomas Van Essen favours programs of mélodies françaises (Duparc, Fauré) and German lieder (Schubert, Mahler).
With his own ensemble Les Meslanges, he has conceived a number of original concert programmes, « 1515 ? Marignan ! », « Amour & Bacchus », « Airs de differens autheurs… », and visited many festivals. Monique Parmentier, in Resmusica.com commented : « Thomas Van Essen’s flexible and warm voice is soothing and puts the text forward… his search for baroque expressiveness gives to words the transparency of tears and the flow of sighs ».