Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner
Daughter of a French mother and a Haitian father, Cécile McLorin Salvant was raised in the musical and cultural culture of Miami. She began her piano studies at the age of 5, sang with the Miami Choral Society at the age of 8, and grew up with two languages (French and American). Thanks to her parents' impressive record collection, she perfected her education through a wide variety of music. Jazz was one of them, but her adolescence was limited to the study of classical and Broadway repertoire.
She moved to Aix en Provence to study opera and law, and ironically, it was in France that she discovered the roots of jazz and American music, thanks to her teacher, jazz saxophonist Jean-François Bonnel.
Three years later, she won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Award in front of a jury composed of Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Patti Austin and Kurt Elling! Since 2010, she continues to attract the attention of the public and critics, winning several prestigious awards including 2 Grammy Awards, the Django Reinhardt Award of the Jazz Academy... She is endorsed by Wynton Marsalis (among others) who is full of praise for her: "She possesses assurance, elegance, soul, humor, sensuality, power, range, insight, intelligence, depth, and grace; one only finds such a singer once in one or even two generations".
Her repertoire, in the tradition of piano/voice duets, ranges from Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim covers to Stevie Wonder, cabaret, Rhythm and Blues and her own compositions. Cécile released a very successful album: Ghost Song.
As for Sullivan Fortner, the artist grew up in New Orleans in a family of singers and instrumentalists. He started playing the piano at the age of 4. In 2010, he entered the Manhattan School of Music and studied with Jason Moran and Phil Markowitz.
In 2015, he won the Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz, a piano competition organized by the American Pianists Association whose prize is a sum of $ 50,000, the possibility of a recording with Mack Avenue Records and a two-year follow-up on the career. The album will be successful and widely praised by critics.
In 2018, his second album, Moments Preserved, was released, and the same year The Window, recorded as a duet with Cécile McLorin Salvant, was released. The two musicians had started to perform as a duo three years earlier and decided to continue the adventure on stage as well, notably on November 30 at the Opéra Garnier Monte-Carlo!
Sofiane Pamart fait partie du top 10 des Artistes Musique Classique les plus streamés au monde en 2021.
Sofiane Pamart is one of the top 10 most streamed Classical Music Artists in the world in 2021.
Used to prestigious stages, after having been propelled headliner of the Montreux Jazz Festival 2021 and having been sold out at the Olympia, the Trianon, the Louvre Museum, and the Salle Pleyel, Sofiane Pamart announces a concert event in Monaco.
His musical universe is halfway between great film music and adventure stories. His work, both dark and poetic, embodies an emotional accuracy that allows him to reach a very wide audience. Gold medalist at the National Conservatory of Lille and referent pianist of French rap, he collaborates with artists such as Joey Starr, Rilès, Bon Entendeur, or Marina Kaye.
Some recent facts:
- He is the first artist to play a live streaming concert under the northern lights of Lapland.
- He is touring internationally in the private and premium members clubs of Soho House.
- He prepares a unique concert at the Opera of Nice of his own repertoire performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera choirs, for 100 people on stage.
- He received 4 gold discs and 2 platinum discs for his collaborations in rap.
- He signed the official music of the video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with a massive international distribution.
Sofiane Pamart released in 2020 his first album PLANET GOLD, regularly present in the Top sales.
Discover the interview of Sofiane Pamart for Inspiration by Monte-Carlo
