Thomas Dunford & Jean Rondeau
Biographie Thomas Dunford & Jean Rondeau
Thomas Dunford
Born in Paris in 1988, Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at the age of nine, thanks to his first teacher Claire Antonini. He completed his studies in 2006 at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNR), when he obtained a unanimous First Prize with honours in the class of Charles-Édouard Fantin. Thomas continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith, and was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in 2009. From September 2003 through to January 2005, Thomas gave his first performances playing the role of the lutenist in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on stage at the Comédie Française. Since then, Thomas has played recitals in New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall, and made numerous solo or ensemble appearances in the most prestigious European festivals, including Ambronay, Arc La Bataille, Bozar, La Chaise-Dieu, Nantes, Saintes and Utrecht, and has also performed further afield in the United States, Israel, China, Japan and India.
Thomas has recorded extensively with leading ensembles including Cappella Mediterranea, Ensemble Clematis, La Serenissima, À Deux Violes Esgales, Capriccio Stravagante, Pygmalion and Arcangelo. He is attracted to a wide variety of music including jazz, and has collaborated in chamber music projects with conductors and soloists including Paul Agnew, Leonardo García Alarcón, Nicola Benedetti, Alain Buet, William Christie, Jonathan Cohen, Christophe Coin, Iestyn Davies, Bobby McFerrin, Monica Huggett, Alexis Kossenko, François Lazarevitch, Anne Sofie von Otter, Hugo Reyne, Skip Sempé and Jean Tubéry.
Jean Rondeau
studied harpsichord with Blandine Verlet for over ten years, followed by training in basso continuo, organ, piano, jazz and improvisation, and conducting. He pursued further studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, graduating with honours, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
In 2012, at just 21 years old, he became one of the youngest performers ever to take First Prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (MAfestival 2012), also winning the EUBO Development Trust prize; an accolade bestowed on the most promising young musician of the European Union. The same year, he claimed second place in the Prague Spring International Harpsichord Competition (64th edition of the Festival, 2012), along with a nod for the best interpretation of the contemporary piece composed specially for that contest. In 2013, he also won the Prix des Radios Francophones Publiques.
Rondeau is in demand for solo, chamber music and orchestral appearances throughout Europe and in the United States. He frequently performs with the Baroque quartet Nevermind. Quite apart from his activities as harpsichordist, he founded the ensemble Note Forget, presenting his own jazz-oriented compositions and improvisations on piano.
Rondeau is signed to Erato as an exclusive recording artist. January 2015 sees the release of his debut solo album, Imagine, dedicated to the music of J.S. Bach on harpsichord.
