Longtime collaborators, Celimene Daudet and Amanda Favier have built a special performance niche in French works of the early 20th Century.  Their first album ‘Dans la malle du poilu’, is a tribute to the French soldiers of WWI. They will be sharing the stage with Louis Rodde and Leslie Boulin-Raulet, two active chamber musicians and members of the acclaimed groups, Karenine and Quatuor Zaïde. The Nomad Ensemble will pay homage to Claude Debussy with his Violin Sonata (1917), Lili Boulanger, the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize, and to Korngold, with ‘Suite for 2 Violins, Cello and Left Hand Piano, and op.23, commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein.

This concert was conceived as a commemorative program for the centennial of World War I. The theme lends itself well to both French and American music, and in particular, to the incredible story of the Austrian-American pianist, Paul Wittgenstein. Notable for commissioning piano concerti for only the left following the amputation of his right arm during the war, Wittgenstein devised novel techniques that allowed him to play chords previously regarded as impossible for a five-fingered pianist. Wittgenstein studied intensely, arranging pieces for the left hand alone and then approached more famous composers like Korngold, amongst others, asking them to write material for him to perform. Wittgenstein became an American citizen in 1946, and spent the rest of his life in the United States. He died in New York City in 1961.

Presented by The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, The French Mission of World War One Centenary and NoMadMusic