Emmanuel Séjourné is a celebrated French composer, pianist, and percussion artist. His music is rhythmic, romantic, energetic, and is inspired by both the Western classical tradition as well as popular culture (jazz and rock).
His compositions are played in dozens of countries every year, and many orchestras now count his works in their repertoire, including the Nagoya Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Croatian Radio Television Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Italienne, Camerata de Bourgogne, Orchestre d’Auvergne, de Cannes, Nice, Pau, Bochumer Symphoniker, and the Wurttembergisches Kammerorchester.
Acclaimed by members of the percussion community, his works have been commissioned or recorded by Gary Cook, John Pennington, Ju-Percussion group, Robert Van Sice, Nancy Zeltsman, Marta Klimasara, Katarzyna Mycka, and the Amsterdam Percussion Group.
Together with saxophonist Philippe Geiss, Emmanuel Séjourné founded the ensemble Noco Music. As a soloist, as well as with the ensemble Accroche-Note, he has premiered over one hundred pieces of music including concertos, chamber music, and solos.
Eager to share and communicate his passion, Séjourné is Head Teacher of the percussion department at the Strasbourg Conservatory (France) and is the author of a vibraphone method book published by Editions Leduc as well as several percussion pieces published by Edition Lemoine, Honeyrock, Combre, Zimmerman, and Alfonce Percussions. He was nominated Pedagogic Adviser to the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs and has given several master classes at major conservatories across Europe, Asia, and America.
Emmanuel is in Singapore currently to collaborate with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) Percussion Ensemble in a concert that explores the exotic world of solo percussion. Headlined by Emmanuel himself, the concert presents a stunning lineup of six different soloists on marimba, vibraphone, timpani, snare drum, drum set and more.
The Band Post speaks to Emmanuel in an exclusive pre-concert interview to find out more about his career and tips for young percussionists in Singapore.
“I work a lot with students from different countries. I like that because they have a lot of energy and they want to work. They are not passive but they want to be active. It is an exchange; an exchange of questions and answers, and that is really good.”
Catch the YSTCM Percussion Ensemble with Emmanuel Séjourné on 10 March 2016 at the Conservatory Hall.
A contributing editor at TBP.