From sea to shining sea, music resounds…
Since the first few decades of the twentieth century, the once-solid divide between North American and European music has progressively - and fortunately! - been bridged.
Jill McCoy, Robert Piéchaud, and Stanislas de Nussac of the trio Trans-Atlanticisms are part of this bridging process, bearing witness to and even embodying this fusion in every program we present. With a focus on mixed repertoire from American and European composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, our group remains particularly open to little-known, rarely-played, or contemporary compositions. Tastes and traditions tend to differ over time from one continent to the next, and we work together to uncover some of the gems hidden unjustly away.
The gems heard at our concerts are often presented in the form of original arrangements for any combination of voice, piano, and a number of instruments, with a special emphasis on the bass clarinet. Though we are technically a trio, we have been known to appear in other permutations ranging from solo performances to duos, and even small groups of 4 or 5.
Creations and new music, including commissions, are fundamental aspects of our programs. Because we are insistent on inter-continental flexibility, works from contemporary American and European composers may often find their way together into a single program, reflecting off of one another and entering into dialogue.
Since the trio’s inception in 2010, we have performed in and around Paris and are always looking to expand our geographical reach.
For more specific program information, see Repertoire.
Mezzo-soprano Jill Alessandra McCoy studied voice from 2005 to 2009 with Judith Kellock at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
While still in the States, Jill collaborated on various new music projects (creations of pieces by Julia Adolphe and Xander Snyder in the series Contrapunkt!) and sang in the Street Chorus of a rare fully-staged version of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS (Schwartz Center, 2009). In Ithaca, under the direction of Dorian Bandy, she sang the role of Zerlina in a baroque production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Jill comes from a family inspired by the rich American musical theatre tradition. Past roles have included The Girl in a Plays-in-the-Park production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks, and Sarah Brown in The New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s 2005 production of Guys & Dolls at the Victoria Theatre in Newark.
In Paris, where she has lived since 2010, Jill has studied with Janny-Paule Capcarrère and Isa Lagarde, and is currently working with Guillemette Laurens. She recently sang the alto solo in Mozart’s Requiem and in Rossini’s La petite messe solennelle, and interpreted the role of Diane in A. Honegger’s Les aventures du roi Pausole.
Jill takes great pleasure in delving into new musical programs, especially when they involve traveling around Europe. Her and Robert Piéchaud’s July 2011 concert in Calabria, Italy, Mahler in Aspromonte, is but a noteworthy example.
Robert Piéchaud first studied Mathematics and Classics before devoting himself entirely to music. In Paris, he studied the piano and organ, first with Pierre Parisse and Gilles Harlé, then with Claude Helffer (97-99), and has trained with Charles Z. Bornstein in orchestration.
As a pianist, Robert performs throughout Europe, presenting repertoire as varied as Bach, Ligeti, and his own works. He premiered his latest piece Still, for piano solo and electronics, after Robert Smithson’s iconic land art work Spiral Jetty, in Paris in June 2013, with a visual setup by Raphaël Chipault. Invited to New York by the St. Thomas Choir School and the National Arts Club from 2000-2002, Robert regularly performed his own works, participating in concert series in and around the city’s contemporary music scene. Recent projects have included Aelita (2015, Auditorium du Musée du Louvre, Paris), War Diptych (2012-2013, with the Trio), Mahler in Aspromonte (Calabria, Italy, 2011) with Jill McCoy ; Le jardin exalté, after Henri Michaux (Reykjavik, 2010) ; live music for silent films (Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Murnau, Ozu, Mizoguchi…) as a soloist or with Stan de Nussac (Cinémathèque Française, Le Grand Action…) ; the complete series of his Piano Studies and Miniatures (Fontainebleau, 2006) ; performances at Villa Ghellini, Italy, and ballet music Parcours 2C for choreographer Bernardo Montet (Paris, Théâtre de la Ville, 2005).Robert is also one of the expert designers of the music notation software Finale, and works for IRCAM as a researcher and developer in the Instrumental Acoustics department.
Stan de Nussac is a composer and multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, shakuhachi). He was celebrated at the Union des Conservatoires in the Yvelines (1st Prize for Excellence in jazz saxophone) and has a background in ethnomusicology at the Sorbonne, where he studied P’ansori, or traditional Korean song.
In his collaborations with Maurice Béjart, Stan has performed in the ballet Opera as an onstage saxophone improvisor.
Stan’s recent projects include compositions for the 2006 opera Tchékov au bois dormant (École de Béjart in Lausanne) and musical composition/onstage saxophone performance for the 2010 play Nema Problema, written by Laura Forti and directed by Alain Batis (Épée de Bois théâtre, Paris).
With Robert Piéchaud, Stan often plays “ciné-concerts” at such venues as the Grand Action cinema in Paris or the Cinémathèque Française.In keeping with the founding idea of the trio, original arrangements and world premieres make up the large part of what we do.
Gustav Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, voice/piano/bass clar.
Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder, voice/piano/bass clar.
Gustav Mahler: Der Tamboursg’sell, voice/piano/bass clar./trumpet.
Gustav Mahler: Das Schildwache Nachtlied, voice/piano/bass clar.
Gustav Mahler: Urlicht, voice/piano/bass clar./flute/trumpet
Alban Berg: 7 frühe Lieder (I & VII with bass clarinet.)
Igor Stravinsky: Berceuses du chat, voice/bass clar.
Charles Ives: Charlie Rutlage (from Cowboy Songs), voice/piano/soprano sax/double bass.
Charles Ives: selections from 114 Songs (Thoreau, Ann Street, Walt Whitman, My Father’s Song).
Charles Ives: The Camp-Meeting, arranged for various instrumental combinations.
John Turner: Naming, after James L. White (2001, French premiere 2011).
Frédérick Martin: Waging War like a Lambkin, after Delia Faith Ross, voice/piano/bass clar. (2013).
Robert Piéchaud: The Baghdad Zoo, after Brian Turner, voice/piano/bass clar. (2012).
Robert Piéchaud: Shiloh, after Herman Melville’s war poem, voice/piano/bass clar. (2011).
Robert Piéchaud: Snow Flurries, piano solo (2011).
Arnold Schönberg: selections from Pierrot Lunaire op.21, arranged for various instrumental combinations.
Kosma/Prévert: Barbara, arranged for voice and bass clarinet by Janga.
Samuel Barber: Hermit Songs.
Claude Debussy: Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons, voice/piano/bass clar.
Maurice Ravel: Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis, pour voice/piano/bass clar.
e-mail: transatlantismes@poeticprocessing.net
phone: +33 (0)6 64 75 09 17
Download the PDF Trans-Atlanticisms Trio’s presentation:
The Trans-Atlanticisms Trio has many projects and we need you to make them happen!
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David Sanson's blog
Composer John Turner
Stan de Nussac’s MySpace page
Katalin Várkonyi, mezzo soprano / alto
Bassist and composer Tim Kiah
03-10-2014 - Des Musiciens & des Guerres, à La Médiathèque François Mitterrand, dans le cadre des commémorations de la Grande Guerre
Venredi 3 octobre 2014, 20h30
Works by: Mahler, Ives, Stravinsky, Bartók,
Rorem, Ravel, Piéchaud
Sunday March 9 2014, 6pm - Tell me the Truth about Love!, at the Collège Franco-Britannique, the trio (+1) with special guest Louise Weeke! (brass)
Works by Britten, Stravinsky, Ives, Mahler, Piéchaud.
Auditorium du Collège Franco-Britannique
Cité Universitaire Internationale de Paris
17 Boulevard Jourdan | 75014 Paris
RER B : Cité Universitaire
Free admittance, pay-as-you-wish
Sunday November 17 2013, 4pm - American & French music at the American Cathedral, Paris.
Works by Ravel, Copland, Ives, Duparc, Rorem, Piéchaud.
23, Avenue George V, 75008 Paris. Free admittance.
18-19 juillet 2013 - 2 programmes au Théâtre de l'Île Saint-Louis Paul Rey :
Jeudi 18 juillet 2013, 18h30 : Programme américain
œuvres de Copland, Ives, Stone, Rorem, Piéchaud
Vendredi 19 juillet 2013, 21h00 : Mahler Liederabend
Extraits des Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Chant d’un compagnon errant, Cor enchanté de l'enfant.
39, quai d’Anjou, 75004 Paris 4ème, 01 46 33 48 65
28-03-2013 - Des Musiciens et des Guerres, à Philomuses:
Jeudi 28 mars 2013, 20h00
Works by: Mahler, Ives, Stravinsky, Bartók,
Rorem, Ravel, Piéchaud
55, quai des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris, 01 42 29 59 36
e-mail: philomuses@wanadoo.fr
Réservation indispensable !
S’il est vrai que les guerres sont toujours terribles, les musiciens et les artistes y trouvent paradoxalement une source d’inspiration, s’attachant ici et là à des aspects inattendus, intimes ou improbables des bouleversements que les conflits forcément engendrent.
Des Musiciens et des Guerres, fresque musicale du Trio Trans-Atlantismes rassemblant des œuvres vocales de Mahler jusqu’à aujourd’hui, invite ainsi le public à de singulières rencontres, tels les occupants égarés du zoo de Baghdad, des déserteurs aux destins contrastés, des oiseaux déboussolés dans le Tennessee, des morts qui fleurissent comme les coquelicots dans les Flandres, ou un chat insoucieux... Autant d’éléments qui se répondent en un vaste cycle.
Exigeant dans son choix de répertoire rarement entendu, ne s’attachant pas à un conflit particulier, traversant les langues, ce programme couvre un temps et un territoire assez vastes, avec une logique plus poétique que chronologique : les guerres soi-disant « en dentelle » du XVIIIème siècle (Des Knaben Wunderhorn de Mahler), la 2nde guerre en Irak (The Baghdad Zoo), la Guerre de Sécession (Shiloh), et bien sûr la « Grande Guerre » de 14-18, avec Tom Sails Away et In Flanders Fields de Charles Ives, et les Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis de Ravel, le tout dans des arrangements inédits ou des compositions originales.
Appuyées par quelques accessoires - de vieux instruments de fanfare, un sac, des godillots, une couverture, un peu de correspondance -, une dramaturgie et une poésie uniques s’installent, faisant jaillir de la musique des images, tantôt puissantes, tantôt fragiles ou fugaces, drôles parfois, émouvantes toujours.
26-01-2013 - Tapage Diurne par Bruit de Musique, At Ackenbush:
Samedi 26 janvier 2013, 20h30
Works by: G. Mahler, C. Ives, Stravinsky, B. Bartók,
Ned Rorem, Frédérick Martin (world premiere), Robert Piéchaud
3 Rue Raymond Fassin, 92240 Malakoff, +33 (0)9 79 55 61 90
17-12-2012 - Of Wars & Musicians, , at 19PaulfFort, Paris:
26-09-2012 - Of Wars & Musicians, , Paris 10th arrondissement City Hall:
11-07-2011 - Paris Début, , Église Saint-Eustache, Paris:
