Violinist and conductor Philippe Arrii-Blachette has died

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Philippe Arrii-Blachette died on 30 December 2023 of cancer, aged 87. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won a violin and chamber music prize and attended masterclasses with Jacques Thibaud and Henryk Szeryng. He was also a prizewinner at the Mexico International Competition.

As a soloist, he performed widely in Europe and Latin America. In 1992 he formed the Sillages Ensemble, raising the profile of contemporary music in his home of Brittany and beyond, including performances in Rome, Geneva and Buenos Aires.

He recorded 20th-century works that were broadcast internationally, through Radio-Stuttgart and Radio-France. He produced 80 musical programmes for television between 1970 and 1974. He performed in the 2E2M ensemble from 1978 to 1983 and became director of the France-Culture Musical Programme at Radio-France from 1985 to 1988.

As an educator, he was professor of violin and chamber music at the Municipal Conservatory of Pantin from 1976 to 1981, as well as director of the National School of Music of Romainville, in Seine-Saint-Denis, from 1975 to 1995 . Though Parisian by birth, Arrii-Blachette settled in Brest, and served as director of the Brest Conservatory from 1995 to 2002.  Described by the mayor of Brest François Cuillandre as a ‘great architect of Brest musical life,’ Arrii-Blachette was the director of the Electrocution Festival, dedicated to contemporary music.

Playing

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Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.