DUO TRANSATLANTIQUE
CLASSICAL GUITAR DUO
Maud Laforest and Benjamin Beirs, guitars
Formed in 2003, Duo Transatlantique combines the prize-winning talents of guitarists Benjamin Beirs and Maud Laforest. These two young musicians decided to form a duo shortly after the start of their studies in 2002 at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. A few years later, in 2005, Ben embarked on his first journey to France, where the duo won first prize in the Union Francaise des Artistes Musiciens Guitar Duo Competition and played a concert in the American Cathedral in Paris. Currently, Ms. Laforest lives in Lille, France, while Mr. Beirs has stayed in Baltimore.
The duo seeks to promote Franco-American relations through an emphasis in the music of these two musically prolific countries. To that end, the duo frequently gives concerts in both countries which include a wide variety of French and American repertoire, as well as music from other regions. In France, the duo has appeared at the Festival des Chapelles in Brittany, the Festival de la Rochepot in Bourgogne, in churches throughout Paris, and has performed for the musical outreach group Coeur en Fête. In the United States, the duo has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, at the Peabody Conservatory of music, as well as for the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society, where they performed for the society’s “Young Talent” concert series, premiering “Chupacabra,” a piece written for the duo by American composer Christopher Gainey and commissioned by the BCGS.
With the foundation of four years of coaching under the guidance of Julian Gray, an acclaimed chamber musician and founder of the Gray-Pearl guitar duo, Duo Transatlantique is ready to make its mark on the musical world. They recently recorded their debut album entitled “Le Gris et le Vert” (The Grey and the Green)which includes music of Debussy, Scarlatti, Petit, Albeniz, and Villoldo. The CD is available for purchase online at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/duotransatlantique .
|
