Olivier Dekeister was born in 1977. He began his musical training by studying the violin at the age of 4 and then turned with passion to the organ. He studied with Georges Bessonnet, Haru Espinasse and Marie-Claire Alain who taught him the baroque organ as well as the symphonic and contemporary organ. He then entered the class of Pierre Pincemaille at the Regional Conservatory of Saint Maur (94) and obtained the gold medal in Improvisation (2009). In addition, he won the first prize in Harmony at the Conservatoire de Nanterre, the first prize in Organ Superior of Hauts de Seine (1998), a distinction in Writing (2007), and a distinction in Counterpoint (2008).
At the age of 22, he was appointed titular of the Debierre organ of Saint Lambert de Vaugirard in Paris. He regularly gives concerts as a soloist or as an accompanist, in Paris as well as in the provinces (Duruflé's Requiem (with choir), Handel's Te Deum, Vivaldi's Gloria, Bach's Magnificat (with choir and orchestra), Saxophone Duo (with saxophone), The most beautiful Ave Maria or Sacred Evening (with soprano), Bach's Cantatas (with soprano and violin), Grandes Ecuries du Château de Chantilly (with hunting horns), Féérie de Noël-Opéra Garnier (with 3000 choristers)), is called to play in various festivals (Cantica Sacra of Rocamadour, Versailles au son des orgues, Mantes la Jolie, La Ronde des Orgues (Essonne), Bayonne, Lethorad (Czech Republic), Festival Amati (Italy)...), participates in creations (Euphonia by Olivier Penard, Symphony by Olivier Greif, Messe brève by Georges Bessonnet, St Jean Baptiste au désert by Guerric Giacomini), rediscoveries of works (Stabat Mater by Clémence de Grandval, le Baptême de Clovis by Théodore Dubois), events sometimes broadcasted (France Culture, Radio Notre Dame) or televised (KTO, Canal Satellite)
As a composer, he has written vocal and instrumental pieces, some of which are regularly performed in concert and were broadcasted in October 2005 (France Culture).
Francisco Mañalich, tenor and violinist, was born in 1984 in Santiago de Chile. He studied musicology at the Catholic University of Chile. He studied singing with the tenor Rodrigo del Pozo, and in 2009 he was awarded the Interpretation Prize in opera singing with distinction. He also studied viola da gamba with Juan Manuel Quintana and Nima Ben David. At the same time, he specialized in basso continuo on the viola da gamba with Frédéric Michel. From 2013 to 2015, he followed the master at the CNSMDP with Christophe Coin.
As a singer, his training has led him to specialize in various repertoires: baroque singing, German lied, French melody, Mozart roles and Italian bel canto. His interest in early music led him to study medieval and Renaissance music in the framework of the professional master's program at the Sorbonne (Bourse Master Ile de France) in partnership with the CNSMDP, where he was trained in polyphonic improvisations (11th-16th centuries), manuscript reading and medieval counterpoint with Raphaël Picazos. He is now perfecting the classical and romantic repertoire with Christine Schweitzer.
He works as a singer and violinist with the ensembles La Révérence (Christophe Coin), La Fenice (Jean Tubery), Le Parlement de Musique (Martin Gester), Correspondances (Sébastien Daucé), Stravaganza, Hemiolia (Claire Lamquet), Faenza (Marco Horvat), Hélène Schmitt, Il Festino (Manuel de Grange), Le Sans-Pareil (Bruno Procopio), La Fabrique à Théâtre (Jean-Denis Monory), Clément Janequin (Dominique Visse), Séquentia (Benjamin Bagby) and Dialogos (Katarina Livljanic). He has recorded two discs with Il Festino: Dove ne vai crudele (five diapasons) and Stefano Landi, arie da cantarsi for Musica Ficta; a disc dedicated to the Rosary Sonatas of H. Biber with Hélène Schmitt (Aeolus) and recently, the Concert royal de la Nuit with the ensemble Correspondances (Harmonia Mundi).
Since 2012, he has been part of the production of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Molière, music by Lully), directed by Denis Podalydès and conducted by Christophe Coin, in which he demonstrates his versatility as a violinist and singer, and also accompanies himself on the guitar. Created at the Bouffes du Nord (revival in 2015), the show has been performed in various European venues, as well as in Moscow and Japan, during three tours (more than a hundred performances). In 2015, Alpha Production recorded a DVD of the production at the Royal Opera of Versailles.
In 2015, Francisco Mañalich was part of the production of the opera L'Italiana a Londra by D. Cimarosa, as part of the opera workshop "Generation Baroque" of the ensemble Le Parlement de Musique, directed by Martin Gester. He performed Ferrando in Così fan tutte in 2015-2016 in Lyon and at the Manège de Saint Germain in Vienna (dir. Claire Levacher, m.e.s Zoltàn Csekö), then sang the role of Idamante in Idomeneo at the Maison de la musique in Nanterre (dir. Dominique Daigremont, m.e.s. Jeanne Debost).
As an instrumentalist, he has developed an interest in accompanying singing in different styles (early music, classical, contemporary and popular), an interest he has been able to put into practice in recent productions and concerts, where he sings and accompanies himself on viola da gamba, arpeggione and guitar.
In 2014, he founded the ensemble Comet Musicke, a field of expression for the singing artist who accompanies himself in the various repertoires of early music.
Jacques-François l'Oiseleur des Longchamps first read a lot as a child, drew, learned to ride horses, and then started music, studying guitar, flute and singing, often performing in school productions. At the age of 20, he decided to study the male alto register, in which he began a career for 8 years. Then he decided to rework his baritone register, with soprano Aneta Pavalache; he was soon engaged in Mozart roles: Papageno, Almaviva, don Giovanni, Guglielmo. He also sang the great baritone roles, from Monteverdi to Britten, in the theaters of Europe and North America, as well as the concert and sacred repertoire: Bach, Handel, Delalande, Campra, Charpentier, Lully, Haydn, Pleyel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Elgar, Fauré... He has a great inclination for the repertoire of the melody and the Lied and he collected, in the course of his voyages and peregrinations, hundreds of scores more published or rare, which enables him to offer unique programs, on a special topic: the female names, the rose, the moon, the orientalism, the birds, the horse, the sung waltzes, the perfumes, the snow, the lake, the lullabies, the religious melodies, Venice... or on poets: Alfred de Musset, Anna de Noailles, Albert Samain, Tristan Klingsor ... or on less known composers: Armande de Polignac, Jacques de La Presle, Charles-Marie Widor ... He has created many contemporary works and especially those of Olivier Greif. He has participated in several recordings, broadcasts and films.
With the Cie de l'Oiseleur he recreates rare works: "Galathée" by Victor Massé, "Nausicaa" and "la colombe de Bouddha" by Reynaldo Hahn, "Claudine" by Rodolphe Berger, "Brocéliande" by André Bloch etc...
He has also directed (and made the lights and costumes) operas, plays and made short films. He is also a portrait photographer and since 2000 he has undertaken an important photographic work on Greek archaic mythology: MYTHOLOGICAL VARIATIONS.
He has recorded two albums for Hybrid Music: CHEVAUCHEES LYRIQUES Vol.1 & Vol.2
He conceives new musico-lyrical-equestrian shows with a whole team of musicians-singers-artists-riders.
Next autumn, two discs will be released, one devoted to Victor Hugo set to music by Charles-Marie Widor and the other to Armande de Polignac.
