Rencontres Musicales Champéry | Christmas Carols with Ensemble Levedy

Christmas Carols

Ensemble Levedy is made up of four female singers - Madeleine Todd, Tamsin Raitt, Helena Cooke and Olivia Bell - and Swiss harpist Laudine Dard. Together, they are committed to highlighting the works of female composers, while making music accessible to all.

The members of the group met while studying music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.

Winners of several awards, including first prize at the prestigious Carne Trust Chamber Music Competition in October 2020, Ensemble Levedy performs in a variety of settings, including hospitals and prisons.

In February 2023, the Ensemble made its first tour of Switzerland, performing in the cantons of Vaud and Geneva, with two special concerts at Champ-Dollon prison. Since then, they have performed regularly in Scotland, England, Switzerland and Italy.

The members of Ensemble Levedy (a Middle English word meaning "lady", inspired by the language used in Britten's A Ceremony of Carols) are interested in blending the power of lyrical voices with the crystalline sound of the harp to create a rich, magical sound unique to this ensemble.


Laudine Dard

Laudine Dard is a Swiss harpist who performs internationally, as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestra throughout Europe. She is a founding member of the Levedy Ensemble quintet, whose vocation is to bring to light little-known works by women composers.

Laudine Dard received the John Marson Harp Prize for Outstanding Musicianship and the Trinity Laban Innovation Award for the creative project with social impact Alone, Together, in 2021.

Laudine Dard has performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Orchestre Consuelo and the London City Philharmonic. She performs regularly in prestigious venues such as London's Wigmore Hall, Geneva's Victoria Hall, Zurich's Tonhalle and Birmingham's Symphony Hall.

Laudine Dard likes to collaborate with dancers, actors and video artists, developing creative and innovative interdisciplinary projects. She is keen to make classical music accessible to all, and performs in hospitals, retirement homes, schools and prisons, notably with Ensemble Levedy, which offers musical workshops for people in prison in England and Switzerland.


Héléna Macherel
Lausanne-born Héléna Macherel is a Swiss flutist who performs as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician internationally. At the age of nineteen, she won the Paul Streit Prize at the Geneva Competition, and has been Principal Flute of the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra since 2024.

Héléna Macherel is a prizewinner in various international competitions (Maxence Larrieu Competition, Jeunesses Musicales de Belgrade International Competition, Anton Rubinstein Berlin International Competition), and is supported by the Leenaards, Kiefer-Hablitzel, Friedl Wald and Migros Culture Percentage foundations.

Héléna Macherel regularly performs as principal flute with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and is a member of the Verbier Festival orchestras.

She recently graduated from the Juilliard School in New York with Robert Langevin, and is continuing her studies with Nolwenn Bargin.

Alongside her activities as a flautist, Héléna Macherel also devotes herself to composition. In her desire to renew her instrument's repertoire, she has made numerous arrangements (notably Strauss's Dance des Sept Voiles, or Ravel's Sonate Posthume) and composed her own cadenzas for various flute concertos.

Musicians:
- Ensemble Levedy, vocals
- Laudine Dard, harp
- Héléna Macherel, flute

Program:
- Jacques Ibert, Entr'acte
- Claude Debussy, Syrinx
- Astor Piazzolla, Histoire du Tango mvt 3, Night-Club
- Benjamin Britten, A Ceremony of Carols
- The angel Gabriel (traditional basque carol)
- Angelina Figus, Hodie Christus natus est
- Bernard Dewagteres, God rest ye merry gentleman
- Renié Pièce Symphonique
- Camille Saint-Saëns, Benedictus from the Christmas Oratorio
- Edmund Rubbra, Two Hymns
- Alice Parker, Three Christmas Carols


Practical information:
- Apéritif from 5:00 pm is at rue du Village 48 (about 300 meters from the concert at the Temple Protestant)
https://www.blackdiamondconcierge.ch/
- More info and tickets on rencontres-musicales.ch

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