Valentine Michaud
- Saxophone
About Valentine
Winner of the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award 2020 "Valentine Michaud is a phenomenal musician who has opened my ears to the saxophones’ unexpectedly enormous range of expression. She is expanding the frontiers of the instrument with her intriguing interdisciplinary performances." Pamela Rosenberg, Credit Suisse Young Artist Award Jury Member
Valentine Michaud’s 2023/24 season includes debuts with the MDR Sinfonieorchester, Prague Philharmonia, Jenaer Philharmonie, and Pannon Philharmonic, as well as recitals at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Beethovenfest Bonn, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, and La Folle Journée.
Highlights of the last two seasons include performances with the Wiener Philharmoniker under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, where Valentine became the first saxophone soloist to perform with the orchestra. She has also recently debuted with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko, the Philharmonie Zuidnederland with Duncan Ward, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, as well as Orchestra Wellington, among others.
Valentine has appeared as a soloist, recitalist and in chamber music groups on many of the world’s leading stages, including KKL Luzern, London’s Wigmore Hall, Grand Philharmonic Hall St Petersburg, Wiener Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Geneva’s Victoria Hall and the Great Guild Hall in Riga.
A recipient of numerous awards, including the Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes (2017), and Jurjans Andrejs VI Woodwind International Competition, in 2020 Valentine was the first wind player to be awarded the prestigious Credit Suisse Young Artist Award.
Contact
Availability & General Enquiries
Tanja Schnitzer
Terry Shew
Contracts, Logistics & Press
Maya Feldman
Representation
Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt
Season Highlights
Video
- Playing
Silhouettes and Shadows - a new saxophone concerto by Jesper Nordin
Read more about the concert in Berwaldhallen on Sept 6 & 7, 2024: https://www.berwaldhallen.se/konsert/ Credit: Berwaldhallen
Silhouettes and Shadows
Concerto for Saxophone, Visual soloist and orchestra by Jesper Nordin. Emmanuel Michaud - Visual Soloist. Daniel Harding - Conductor Credit: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Peacock Tales (Anders Hilborg) - Valentine Michaud
Valentine Michaud on tour with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Duncan Ward Credit: Phil Zuid
After a Dream, Gabriel Fauré - Valentine & Gabriel Michaud
Valentine Michaud & Gabriel Michaud perform Gabriel Fauré’s “After a Dream”. Credit: Valentine Michaud
Nightclub 1960 (Histoire du Tango), Astor Piazzolla- Gabriel & Valentine Michaud
alentine Michaud & Gabriel Michaud perform Astor Piazzolla’s Nightclub 1960 (Histoire du Tango). Credit: Marimba: Gabriel Michaud, Vidéo: Emmanuel Michaud,
Valentine Michaud – Credit Suisse Young Artist Award
Credit Suisse Young Artist Award winner, Valentine Michaud, talks about winning the prestigious award ahead of her Wiener Philharmoniker debut at the Lucerne Festival 2022. The first ever wind player to have received the award, Valentine performed the saxophone premiere of Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Credit: Credit Suisse Young Artist Award
PULSE - Vincent David // Valentine Michaud (Live)
Valentine Michaud performs Vincent David’s ‘Pulse’ for her encore with Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko – October 2021. Credit: Recorded in DR Koncerthuset 2021
Saxophone Concert - Glazunov // Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Valentine Michaud (Live)
Valentine Michaud gives her debut with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko, performing Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto – October 2021. Credit: Composed by Alexander Glazunov, Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Akmi Duo: "L'Étang du Patriarche" @Wigmore Hall
Valentine Michaud & Akvilé Sileikaïté perform Juillerat’s “L’Etang du Patriarche”, in memory of Mikhail Bulgakov, at the Wigmore Hall, October 2019. Credit: Swiss Ambassador Award tour
"BOTH - Le Dialogue de l'Ombre Double", Trailer
A preview to the short film “Le Dialogue de l’Ombre Double” by SIBJA, based on the work of Pierre Boulez and Paul Claudel. Artistic Direction: Valentine Michaud & Emmanuel Michaud. The full short film was presented at the ELIA Biennal Conference 2020, Zürich, Switzerland. Credit: A film by SIBJA based on the work of Pierre Boulez and Paul Claudel
Valentine Michaud | Prokofiev
Valentine Michaud & Akvilé Sileikaïté perform Prokofiev’s Flute Sonata at the Lucerne Festival 2020. Credit: Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Alumni under the direction of Baldur Brönnimann
Pajaros Perdidos - Astor Piazzolla - Valentine & Gabriel Michaud
Credit: Recorded in Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud for Mirare Label
Blackbird, John Lennon/Paul McCartney - Valentine & Gabriel Michaud
An inexhaustible source of inspiration, birdsong has lent colours and sound to all ages. Exploring the sonic palette, wether glittering or woody, of their instruments, Valentine and Gabriel Michaud take us deep into a lush jungle of chiseled melodies and shimmering harmonies in their first disc for the Mirare Label. Famous or exotic birds, baroque or electronic, jazzy or contemporary, all together they spread their wings in a hymn to freedom and musical diversity. Credit: Recorded in Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud for Mirare Label
Photos
Selected Repertoire
Birtwistle
PANIC for saxophone, wind band and drums
Debussy
Rhapsodie pour saxophone et orchestre
Florent Schmitt
Légende for saxophone and orchestra, Op. 64
Frank Martin
Ballade for saxophone and orchestra
Glazunov
Concerto in in E-flat Major, Op.109
Henri Tomasi
Ballade for saxophone and orchestra • Concerto for saxophone and orchestra
Hillborg
Peacock Tales
Ibert
Concertino da Camera
John Adams
Concerto for saxophone and orchestra
John Psathas
Zahara for saxophone and orchestra
John Williams
Escapades
Justé Janulyté
The Colour of Water
Milhaud
Scaramouche
Nadir Vassena
Materia Oscura for saxophone and ensemble
Penderecki
Concerto for saxophone and orchestra
Villa-Lobos
Fantasia for soprano saxophone and orchestra
Sample Programmes
Programme 1:
Sergueï Prokoviev, Flute sonata in D major - 25' Alexander Glazunov, The Minstrel Song - 4' Kevin Juillerat, L'Etang du Patriarche - 9' Francis Poulenc, Sonate for oboe and piano - 15' Edison Denisov, Sonata for saxophone alto and piano - 10'
Programme 2 (American themed):
Leonard Bernstein, Sonata for clarinet and piano - 10' Misha Zupko, "Red Walls of Fog" and "Mango Café" from "In Transit" - 12' William Bolcolm, Lilith - 16' George Gershwin, Three Preludes - 10' William Albright, Sonata for saxophone and piano - 17'
Programme 3 (contemporary / theme based on sound, resonance and timbre):
Paul Hindemith, Viola Sonata op. 11 n°4 - 16'30" Luis Naon, Yendo - 8' Kevin Juillerat, L'Etang du Patriarche - 9' William Albright, Sonata for saxophone and piano - 17'
News
Valentine Michaud debuts with Swedish Radio Symphony conducted by Daniel Harding
Lucie Leguay and Valentine Michaud debut with the MDR-Sinfonieorchester
Valentine Michaud debuts with philharmonie zuidnederland
Valentine Michaud debuts with the Wiener Philharmoniker
Valentine Michaud debuts with Danish National Symphony Orchestra
French saxophonist Valentine Michaud joins Askonas Holt for worldwide management.
Press
Album: PhilZuid / Duncan Ward / Valentine Michaud
Nov 2023Incendiary the Dance Suite by Béla Bartók paves the way to Peacock Tales by Anders Hillborg, composed for clarinettist Martin Fröst, who devised mime and lighting to go with it. Now performed by saxophonist Valentine Michaud who during the concerts wore a beautifully feathered mask. Yet the piece is aurally theatrical enough: a spectacular battle erupts between soloist and orchestra in a cacophony of sound languages and styles. Though somewhat on the sharp side, details in Debussy's La Mer are nicely highlighted, such as the woodwinds at the beginning, above the deep harp strings. When violin, flute or oboe break free, the melodies reflect like rays of light on the undulating basses. Jeux de vagues is not a limp flirtation but real play, the percussion majestic.
- De Volkskrant
- 02 November 2023
World Premiere: ANDERS HILLBORG "Peacock Tales" for saxophone and orchestra
Luzern FestivalSep 2022with the Wiener Philharmoniker & Esa-Pekka Salonen Wiener Traditionsorchester schlägt mit seiner Solistin [Valentine Michaud] das Pfauenrad. Die Wiener Philharmoniker begeistern unter der Leitung von Esa-Pekka Salonen mit sinnlicher Moderne und einer Uraufführung mit optischem Showeffekten. ... Der Solopart von «Peacock Tales» («Pfauen-Erzählungen») mit seiner breiten stilistischen Palette, die auch Jazz- und Minimalelemente einschliesst, lässt die spielerischen Qualitäten der Französin, die in der Schweiz lebt, auf das Schönste erstrahlen. Under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Vienna Philharmonic inspires with sensual modernity and a world premiere with visual show effects. ... The solo part of "Peacock Tales" with its broad stylistic palette, which also includes jazz and minimal elements, allows the playful qualities of the Frenchwoman, who lives in Switzerland, to shine in the most beautiful way.
- Luzerner Zeitung
- 08 November 2022
