©Photo: Le Balcon

Le Balcon — Maxime Pascal

Founded in November 2008, Le Balcon is a flexible amplified orchestra based at Athénée Louis-Jouvet Theatre in Paris. Composed of a wide range of artists: soloist singers, more than thirty musicians, composers and sound engineers, as well as video makers, directors and choreographers depending on its projects and productions.

Le Balcon produces crossover shows, from modern music to the classical repertoire, including contemporary music’s most disturbing experiences. They define a specific musical action, getting rid of the boundaries between the audience and the artists. Amplifying the orchestra is part of their vision of a musical show, which has to be a radical and striking experience for the audience.

Le Balcon’s artistic committee unites musical director Maxime Pascal, sound engineer Florent Derex, composers Juan-Pablo Carreño and Pedro Garcia-Velasquez and pianist and singing coach Alphonse Cemin. They have worked with composers such as Pierre Boulez or Michaël Levinas; while bonding with young artists of its own generation such as Marco Suarez-Cifuentes and Arthur Lavandier, director Benjamin Lazar, and the moviemaker Nieto.

In summer 2016, Le Balcon started a series of recording sessions of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, musical arrangement by Arthur Lavandier. The creative process will be pursued with the creation of Lavandier’s second opera, co-producted with Opéra de Lille, in autumn 2016.

Among future projects, Le Balcon will continue the work initiated during the past seasons with Stockhausen’s work, leading to a new production of Donnerstag aus Licht, coming autumn 2018.