Waksman: A Dream for Artemis Quatuor Ellipsos, Orchestre Victor Hugo & Jean-François Verdier

• Fabien Waksman (b. 1980): 1969, July. Cape Canaveral…:
• 1 Waksman: 1969, July. Cape Canaveral… 00:26
• Movement I:
• 2 Waksman: Movement I: Before the Moon Rush 08:04
• 2003, January 16th, Cape Canaveral again…:
• 3 Waksman: 2003, January 16th, Cape Canaveral again… 00:29
• Movement II:
• 4 Waksman: Movement II: Ignition Sequence starts 04:42
• We are the lost explorers…:
• 5 Waksman: We are the lost explorers… 00:21
• Movement III:
• 6 Waksman: Movement III: 4 Soul Space Debris haunting L.E.O. 07:48
• The Moon, ultimate frontier…:
• 7 Waksman: The Moon, ultimate frontier… 00:22
• Movement IV:
• 8 Waksman: Movement IV: Artemis to the Highest Frontier 04:55
• Total Runtime 27:07

Info for Waksman: A Dream for Artemis

Once upon a time, there lived a small, unique blue planet, on which lived a species fascinated by the beauty of the universe that hosted it. This species tried to look ever further to push back the horizon of possibilities and touch the mystery of its origin. The exploration of unknown worlds seemed so vital to it that it forgot the preservation of its own habitat. This species, unique and insignificant in the cosmos, filled with paradoxes, is ours: Humanity. As NASA prepares a new human exploration of the Moon, more than half a century after Neil Armstrong's first step, our eyes will once again follow the adventures and rays of light of the Artemis mission, little sister and heir to the legendary Apollo program. A Dream for Artemis is a concerto for saxophone quartet conceived as a tribute to the conquest of space from 1957 to the present day. The Artemis mission will have four astronauts on board. 4 saxonauts: 4 saxophonists exploring the sound universe. 4 gleaming metal instruments for a rocket and a shared dream.

Quatuor Ellipsos:
Paul-Fathi Lacombe, soprano saxophone
Julien Bréchet, alto saxophone
Sylvain Jarry, tenor saxophone
Nicolas Herrouët, baritone saxophone
Orchestre Victor Hugo
Jean-François Verdier, conductor

Jean-François Verdier
Considered one of Europe's finest clarinetists, he has won several international competitions in various disciplines (Tokyo, Vienna, Antwerp, Colmar and Lugano). He has performed under the baton of Bernstein, Ozawa, Muti, Gergiev, Salonen, Boulez, Jordan, Dohnanyi, Barenboim, Dudamel, Nelsons... He is also a guest of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Winner of the Bruno Walter Prize at the Lugano International Conductors' Competition in 2001, he is assistant to Philippe Jordan in Vienna and to Kent Nagano, and resident conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon (2008-10).

Since 2010, he has been artistic director of the Orchestre Victor Hugo, an orchestra that is now recognized and on the rise, with whom he has recorded several award-winning discs (two Chocs Classica, Choc Jazz, Diamant d'Opéra Magazine...) a film with soprano Renée Fleming, and several CD books for children.

He is in demand on the major international stages: Opéra national de Paris (for which he has conducted over 70 performances and shot two musical films for the cinema), Munich, Tokyo, Vienna, Madrid, Montreal, Lausanne, Luxembourg, Berne, Brussels, Mexico City, Salerno, Nagoya, Bolshoi Moscow... He is also a guest of the main French orchestras, national operas and festivals. He collaborates with Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Ludovic Tézier, Sandrine Piau, Piotr Beczala, Isabelle Faust, Sergei Nakariakov, Anne Queffélec, Nemanja Radulovic, François Leleux... He is a member of the jury of international competitions alongside Leonard Slatkin, Jorma Panula, Marin Alsop and Dennis Russel-Davies.

He has composed musical tales and two mini-operas for children: his works have been performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bavarian Radio Munich, Dessau Opera, Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Rouen, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Metz, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, etc.

Orchestre Victor Hugo
Since 2010, Jean-François Verdier, the Orchestra's Artistic Director, has chosen the best soloists and conductors to accompany this musical adventure. The Orchestre Victor Hugo collaborates with singers such as : Renée Fleming, Sandrine Piau, Piotr Beczala, Ludovic Tézier, Karine Deshayes, Isabelle Druet... and artists such as François Leleux, Anne Queffélec, Jean-François Heisser, Emmanuel Rossfelder, Sigiswald Kuijken, Bertrand de Billy, Reinhardt Goebel, Arie van Beek, Lio Kuokman, Alexandra Soumm, Nemanja Radulovic, Alexandre Kantorow, Valeriy Sokolov, Edicson Ruiz, Sergei Nakariakov, Pacho Flores, Isabelle Faust, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Sophie Dervaux... he also invites numerous female conductors: Sofi Jeannin, Debora Waldman, Alexandra Cravero, Elizabeth Askren, Dina Gilbert, Ustina Dubitsky, Johanna Malangré...

The Victor Hugo Orchestra defines itself as a collective of musicians serving the public and music. Deeply involved in the social life of its region, it is also an active ambassador, whether at the Philharmonie de Paris where it has been invited several times, or in festivals such as the Folle journée de Nantes, the Eurockéennes, FestiNeuch, the Festival des Forêts, the Festival des Nuits Romantiques, the Festival Berlioz ... He reaches out to all audiences, especially children and teenagers, with artistic projects specially designed for them and by opening the doors of the stage, rehearsals, playing in libraries, school yards, factory sheds... He regularly creates shows for young audiences and launches in 2018 Rendez-vous conte, the first participatory season dedicated to musical tales.

The Orchestre Victor Hugo is one of France's most imaginative orchestras in terms of discography, with around two publications a year, which have received numerous distinctions (The Gramophone Editor's Choice, Choix de France Musique, Diamant d'Opéra Magazine, 2 Chocs de Classica, Clef d'or ResMusica, 5 Diapason, 4F de Télérama, Coups de Cœur de l'Académie Charles Cros...).

Booklet for Waksman: A Dream for Artemis