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Dominique Desmons

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  • French Chanson

Dominique Desmons studied singing (under Denise Monteil and Brenda Hubbard), dramatic arts and musical training at the Conservatoire National de Région de Limoges from 1976 to 1982. He sang in the choir (opera/operetta) at the Grand-Théâtre de Limoges between 1977 and 1984. As a soloist, he has performed French melody and lied, and has taken part in several religious music concerts (works by Bach, Schütz, Mozart, Schubert, etc.).

In parallel to this, he turned his attention to singing, cabaret and music hall performance in founding the Rabetaud and Desmons duo, sponsored in 1989 by the Frères Jacques (many tours across Switzerland, Quebec and the French festival circuit: Avignon, Les Nuits de Champagne, Casino de Paris for the Frères Jacques tribute in 1996, etc.) He recorded a second album in 2003 entitled 'Les lignes de la vie'. Meeting director Jack Gervais and orchestra conductor Philippe Hui was an opportunity to get back to his operetta and comic opera roots. Since 1997, he has performed in tenor buffo or trial roles: Trénitz (La Fille de Madame Angot by Lecocq), the Bailli (Les Cloches de Corneville by Planquette), Ménélas (La Belle Hélène by Offenbach), the Count of Panatellas (La Périchole by Offenbach), Lerida (The Merry Widow by Lehar), the Eunuch (The Land of Smiles by Lehar). His range extends from 18th-century comic opera (Sancho Pança by Philidor and Le Délire de Berton) to contemporary works (Le Petit Opéra Thérapeutique by Isabelle Aboulker).

He has also performed in Lakmé by Léo Delibes and in Véronique by André Messager. While pursuing his calling as a singer, he has devoted much of his energy to teaching singing, and trained in the profession under Jacques Barathon and Roland Lemetre at the Centre d'Art Polyphonique de Paris-Ile de France. He perfected his singing and performance teaching methods under François Combeau at the Geste Vocal in Paris. He worked for the Musique et Danse association in the Limousin region as a teacher, as well as at the CFMIs in Poitiers and Rennes. He runs workshops in performance and vocal technique based on contemporary repertoires, etc. in a number of institutions.

Dominique Desmons is also a pianist, composer, vocal coach, a member of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, France's national society for theatre composers and writers (his latest work for the stage was for a production of Molière's Miser at the Festival d’Avignon in July 2002, produced by the Théâtre de la Passerelle de Limoges) and a member of the SACEM in his capacity as a writer and composer.

He teaches at the Académie musicale de Villecroze in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

Source

Masterclass conducted