The Fondation des États-Unis (FEU) is pleased to organize an evening around the work of Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) “The Penitent Madeleine”. This unique historical event will take place on February 1, 2024, starting at 6 pm. With the theme of the restitution of the work The Penitent Madeleine, the evening offers the general public the chance to discover the incredible story of this work, which was looted during the Second World War and returned to the heirs of the Hauser family in 2023.
Conference
The evening will begin with a talk on the restitution of this work in the presence of the heirs of the Hauser family, lawyer Charlotte Caron, who worked for the restitution under French law, and American specialist Raymon Dowd, a New York attorney (Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller, LLP) and Associate Professor at Fordham Law School.
Concert
The evening will continue with a concert, orchestrated and directed by Diana Ligeti, director of the Écoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, recounting the eventful history of the painting. Musicians in residence at the FEU, alumni and students of the Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau will lead this moment of sharing. Together, they will immerse the general public in the emotion of classical music from the 18th century to the Second World War.
Partners
This event is supported by two law firms: New York-based Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP, and Paris-based CARON AVOCATS.
The musical program was designed by Diana Ligeti, artistic director of the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts (EAAF), FEU’s cultural partner.
Practical Information
Date Thursday, February 1st | Horaire 6pm | Facebook Event
Muscial Program
J.B. Barriere (1707-1747)
Sonata for 2 cellos in G Major
Andrew Briggs, Diana Ligeti
W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
1st movement of the flute quartet in C Major
Jonathan Mutel, Antonin Lefaure, Andrew Briggs, Isabelle Pazar
W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Excerpts from the flute quartet in D Major
Bartu Elci-Ozsoy, Antonin Lefaure, Andrew Briggs, Thomaz Tavares
D. Shostakovich (1906-1975)
1st and 2nd movements of the 8th string quartet
Jonathan Mutel, Bartu Elci-Ozsoy, Antonin Lefaure, Andrew Briggs
J. Williams (1932-)
Schindler’s list
Jonathan Mutel, Isabelle Pazar, Diana Ligeti, Ian Tomaz
M. Ravel (1875-1937)
Alborada del gracioso
Ian Tomaz
M. Ravel (1875-1937)
Habanera
Thomaz Tavares, Ian Tomaz
F. Kreisler (1875-1962)
Variations on a theme by De Falla
Jonathan Mutel, Ian Tomaz
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
From the “Festo Visitationis” to the chorale “Joy of men’s desiring”
Isabelle Pazar, Ian Tomaz, Jonathan Mutel, Andrew Briggs, Thomaz Tavares, Bartu Elci-Ozsoy, Antonin Lefaure, Diana Ligeti
About the EAAF
Born of the same desire to contribute to the development of Franco-American friendship, the American Art Schools of Fontainebleau (EAAF) and the United States Foundation (FEU) are strengthening their partnership, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Between student exchanges and the realization of joint projects, our two institutions share the same objectives: the dissemination of French culture in the United States, cultural exchange, and openness to the world. Our two institutions also welcome students from American universities, and we share the same mission of transmitting and promoting creation. Our collaboration is based on these two axes, and so, naturally, during the EAAF’s summer sessions, the FEU residents join the students from Fontainebleau for projects in Fontainebleau, and the EAAF comes to the FEU to showcase the students’ talent in a concert on the last Thursday in July.
EAAF Musicians
Following musical studies in Rumania, the cellist Diana Ligeti entered the Paris Conservatoire post-graduate program. She soon attracted the attention of Lord Yehudi Menuhin, and attended the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland). Ms. Ligeti also holds a Master’s degree in Musicology from the Sorbonne Paris University. Winner of many competitions in her native Rumania, Ms. Ligeti was a finalist in the prestigious Munich Competition in 1992, and won First Grand Prize at the Douai International Cello Competition the same year. In 1996, as a member of the Ligeti String Trio, she won First Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka (Japan). Since then, Diana Ligeti has performed as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. Ms Ligeti has recorded for Arion, Leman Classics, the Japan Chamber Music Foundation, Warner, Polymnies and others. Her two most recent CD with the Ensemble “Musique Oblique” was rated with highest honors by the French press. Diana Ligeti is invited for master classes worldwide. She is a regular member of the “Trio George Sand”, the “Calliopée” chamber ensemble and she use to play solo cello in the new founded Open chamber orchestra. In addition to her performance activities, Diana Ligeti teaches side reading for strings at the Conservatoire National Superior de Musique in Paris and cello at the Fontainebleau Schools for Music and Fine Arts and at the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatoire à rayonnement regional. She plays a modern cello made by David Ayache (Montpellier, 2001) and bows by Pierre Grunberger, (Paris, 2010) and Emmanuel Begin (Montreal 2017). Since March 2018 Diana Ligeti is the artistic director of the Fontainebleau festival, she is the second woman to hold the title after the long tenure of the famous Nadia Boulanger.
Bartu Elci-Ozsoy, a 20-year-old violinist, conductor and composer in Paris, made his triple debut at the age of 15 by playing the Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and conducting his 1st Symphony as well as Mozart’s 29th Symphony. The concert was attended by a large audience, including a former French Prime Minister. Bartu channeled the proceeds towards the reconstruction of Notre Dame de Paris, a UNESCO World Heritage demolished by fire shortly before the concert. After this concert, Maestro Jean-Claude Casadesus began to mentor and teach him, saying, “Bartu is an excellent musician (…) who deserves the utmost attention”. Bartu made its U.S. debut with several concerts and events organized in New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. in the first half of November 2023. During this tour, in addition to professional engagements, he performed at the charity events organized for disadvantaged children. His tour also included a performance at the United Nations headquarters organized by the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations and a concert organized by the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts. Before the tour, Bartu played as the “guest of honor” musician in an event organized at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs by the UNESCO French National Commission, and gave concerts in Teatro di Marcello in Rome. Earlier this year, he was commissioned to compose and play works for the inauguration of Musée Bourdell in Paris, and also co-organized a concert for UNICEF under the High Patronage of President Macron. Following this concert, Bartu was interviewed by Maggie Ayre of BBC Radio 4, and played for her award-winning series ‘Soul Music’. Bartu also uses his art for good causes, with a focus on children and environment. He is a a European Climate Pact Ambassador of the European Commission, a Distinguished Friend of UNICEF Île-de-France Committee, a select group of four individuals chosen for their achievements, and an ‘Artist for the Amazon’ of Amazon Aid Foundation (USA). The solidarity initiatives he carried on since 2019 enabled him to connect with renowned musicians, such as the legendary Wayne Shorter, who said, “Bartu is an extraordinary human being that is needed at a time when we need people to do special things”. Gifted with perfect pitch, Bartu started the violin at the age of 4, composing at 5 and conducting at 14. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Paris Conservatoire with high honors from the class of Alexis Galpérine when he was 18, and his diploma in conducting from the Ecole Normale de Musique (ENMP) from the class of Dominique Rouits and Julien Masmondet at the age of 17. He is at his final year of Master’s at the Paris Conservatoire in the class of Sarah Nemtanu, first violin of the National Orchestra of France. He is, at the same time, in the final year of his advanced studies (“perfectionnement”) in conducting at the ENMP, in the class of Julien Masmondet. Bartu is also a graduate of the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. In 2023, one of his performances in Fontainebleau was featured at the WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase hosted by Midge Woolsey. Bartu plays on a violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in 1760 (‘Ex-Vidas’), which was loaned by the Paris Conservatoire.
Antonin Lefaure
FEU and EAAF alumni musicians
Andrew Briggs is a dynamic artist who seeks to create connection and community with his audiences. Whether as a soloist or as part of an ensemble, Andrew is dedicated to the immediacy of connection that is the power of music, performing in concert halls and hospital bedsides, wherever audiences are ready to connect deeply with music. Considered “an artist with a growing reputation and a promising future” (The Well-Tempered Ear), cellist Andrew Briggs performs internationally. Recent solo and chamber music appearances include the Bridging Arts Music Festival (Nürmberg, DL), the Festival de Fontainebleau (FR), the Opus 16 Concert Series (NL), the Festival de Radio France (Montpellier, FR), and forthcoming appearances at the Festival International aux Garrotxes (FR) and in Paris.
Born in New York and raised in Brazil, flutist Thomaz Tavares is currently based in Paris, where he leads an active solo, chamber, and orchestral performance career. He is flutist with the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle Europe under the baton of Maestro Nicolas Krauze, and is an occasional guest performer with Ensemble Calliopée, VociHarmonie, and the Open Chamber Orchestra of Paris. Tavares was previously the professor of flute at the Conservatoire Provinois in the medieval town of Provins, as well as guest professor at the Conservatoire Jean Baptiste Lully in Paris. An active and devoted pedagogue, Tavares has given numerous recitals, lectures, and masterclasses throughout France, the United States, and Brazil. Praised for his “innate sense of musical aesthetics in all styles” by Vociharmonie and for his “polished, lyrical and virtuoso” playing by the Virginia Gazette, Tavares has made numerous solo and chamber appearances at the historical Salle Cortot in Paris and the Château de Fontainebleau. He has performed at the Festival d’Auvers sur Oise, Journées de Ravel, Harmonies du Perche, the Festival de Fontainebleau, the Melodieuse in Luberon, the Dartington Summer Festival, and Talis Sarajevo, to name a few. Tavares holds his Bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was the recipient of the Premier Young Artist Scholarship. He moved to Paris in order to study under the tutelage of the renowned international soloist Jean Ferrandis at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, where he obtained his Diplôme Supérieur d’Execution with unanimous distinction from the jury and in 2020, followed by his terminal degree the Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste. Tavares was a recipient of the 2019 Harriet Hale Woolley Fellowship at the Foundation des États-Unis, for which he undertook a dual performance research on the musical repertory of the French Belle Époque with Jean Ferrandis and the compositions of Yuko Uebayashi under advisorship of the composer herself.
FEU Musicians
Jonathan Mutel is a recognized classical violinist, open to various musical horizons. His passion for chamber music and symphonic repertoires has led him to perform in France (Philarmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Gaveau) but also in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and China. At the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music, he perfected his playing and expanded his repertoire thanks to his teacher Peter Brunt. It is in this context that he explored new musical horizons, such as the baroque repertoire on period instruments, the modern repertoire, and musical improvisation. He studies jazz violin at the conservatory and teaches violin at the music school of Fontenay-le-Fleury.
Isabelle Pazar, flutist and winner of the 2022-23 Fulbright scholarship, studies flute pedagogy and traditional techniques of the French flute school. Her research project led her to study alongside flutist Patricia Nagle at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Isabelle’s love of musical composition, and particularly of the Romantic era, brought her to Paris to study the flute in her native land. Originally from the United States, and more specifically Maine, Isabelle is a doctoral candidate in music performance at Stony Brook University in New York, where she had the good fortune to study with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College after studying with assistant flute professor Judy Grant, creator and director of the Boston Flute Academy. In 2017, she received a scholarship from Boston College to attend the Cremona Italy International Music Festival and Competition. Isabelle earned a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, where she studied flute with Dr. Cobus du Toit and worked as an assistant studio flute teacher. She also helped teach music history. She also studied with flutist Sooyun Kim of the renowned Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in New York, and performed in several MasterClasses for flutists Leone Buyse, Elizabeth Rowe, Mario Caroli, Linda Toote, and Lorne McGhee. Recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship for 2023-2024, Isabelle is thrilled to continue her studies in Paris as artist-in-residence at the Fondation des États-Unis.
Ian Tomaz is an American pianist currently based in Paris, France. He has studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot since 2021, working with Pascal Roge. He is in residence at the Fondation des Etats Unis in 2022-2023 as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, performing concerts as an Artist in Residence at the FEU and around Paris while working on the major solo, chamber and art song compositions of Francis Poulenc. Since moving to Paris, he has performed at Salle Cortot, Musee J.J. Hennerand the Centre Culturel Czech and was also chosen as a full scholarship participant for the Academie de Musique Francaise, playing for renowned French pianists including Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier, Anne Queffelec, Marie Catherine Girod and Francoise Thinat. He began his studies at the ENMP thanks to the generous support of the Bourse Marandon from the Societe des Professeurs de Français et Francophones D’Amérique in New York.
