Accordionist
Félicien Brut has become, in a few years, the representative of the accordion in the new generation of classical musicians, defending the polymorphic characteristic of his instrument, and helping to create new repertoire dedicated to him in chamber music and with orchestra.
Born in 1986 in Auvergne (France), Félicien began his musical training at a very young age, starting with the musette and popular repertoire intrinsically linked to his instrument. In 2007, he won the three biggest international accordion competitions: the Klingenthal Competition in Germany, the Castelfidardo Competition in Italy and the World Accordion Trophy in Samara, Russia. These awards propelled him to the international stages of many festivals in 2008. It is in 2017 that his career really takes off. He gave life to the astonishing project Le Pari des Bretelles alongside the Quatuor Hermès and the double bass player Édouard Macarez, bringing together musette and classical music in the same concert program. The success is immediate and gives a great visibility to the accordion in the world of chamber music. In 2019, Félicien repeats the adventure, surrounded by the same companions, with the NEUF project : a program consisting of nine original creations, signed by nine composers of today and all inspired by the work of Beethoven. The recordings of Le Pari des Bretelles and NEUF were released by Mirare in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
Beyond this sextet, Félicien imagines different programs of chamber music by surrounding himself with brilliant musicians. He regularly performs in duo with the guitarist Thibaut Garcia or the trumpet player Lucienne Renaudin-Vary. In 2021, a quintet was created with Thomas Enhco, Thibaut Garcia, Jordan Victoria and Édouard Macarez to pay tribute to Astor Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango in this year that marks the centenary of the Argentine composer.
As early as 2018, he makes his debut with orchestra by being the guest of the festival “Un Violon sur le Sable” for the creation of Caprice d’accordéoniste, a fantasy for accordion and orchestra composed by Thibault Perrine. He then had the opportunity to perform several times with the Orchestre National de Cannes under the direction of Benjamin Lévy, and then made a notable appearance on the program “Fauteuil d’Orchestre”, presented by Anne Sinclair, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. These first experiences were the foundation of an irrepressible desire to defend the accordion as a solo instrument in the symphonic repertoire. Félicien then commissioned the composer Fabien Waksman to write a concerto for accordion : L’Île-du-Temps. It was premiered in October 2021 with the Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, under the baton of Antonio Méndez. He has recently collaborated with the Orchestre de Tours and the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine. His latest album, J’ai deux amours, was released in October 2022 on the Warner Classics / Erato label, a first for the accordion within this prestigious label. Always with the same will to defend his instrument, Félicien produces and presents since September 2021 a weekly program on France Musique : “Brut d’accordéon”.
Félicien plays on a Bayan Gadji designed, tuned and maintained by Stéphanie Simon.
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