A French composer born December 24, 1972 in Marseille.
An organist by training, Pierre-Adrien Charpy won First Prizes for Renaissance counterpoint, fugue and form at the Paris Conservatory.
With the singer Raphaële Kennedy he founded the ensemble Da Pacem dedicated to early music, contemporary creation as well as dialogue between cultures. Close to African and Caribbean music, he collaborated with Moussa Hema, a balafon player from Burkina Faso, notably for À nos ancêtres, à nos enfants for soprano, balafon, viola da gamba, harpsichord and organ, first performed at the Chapelle de Ronchamp built by Le Corbusier (2004).
Inspired by other creative domains, he also works with artistes from dance, gastronomy, photography and video, as part of multidisciplinary or multimedia shows: Dans la chair du son for solo drummer, orchestra of cooks and musicians and electronics, first performed at the festival Les Musiques du Gmem (2016); L’île Paradis qu’on ne doit pas dire for spoken voice, singing voice, electronics and video by Isabelle Françaix, first performed by Raphaële Kennedy and Vincent Bouchot in Marseilles (2018).
Also inspired by literature, Charpy has set to music poets including Théophile de Viau, Jean de la Fontaine, Emily Dickinson, Andrée Chedid, and Benoît Richter. He emphasises emotion, the investigation of new techniques and composes for all kinds of groups: Le jeu du paume et du plat for mixed chorus, premiered by Les Cris de Paris (1999); Le premier rêve de Martin-Luther King, oratorio for tenor, baritone, chorus, four saxophones and four percussionists, first performed by Vincent Bouchot, Arnaud Marzorati, Les Éléments, Xasax and Rhizome (2002); Le chant de la nuit for flute, clarinet, saxophone and cello, premiered by the ensemble C Barré (2006); Ledigkeit for mixed chorus, premiered by the vocal ensemble Sequenza 9.3 (2007); My soul’s at liberty for six voices, premiered by Les Solistes XXI (2009); Le rêve de l’homme-oiseau for principal accordion and eight instruments, premiered by the ensemble Télémaque (2010).
Pierre-Adrien Charpy teaches composition at the Marseilles Conservatory; he also appears as an organist, either as a soloist or with ensembles specialising in early music.
