Edmund Barton Bullock, pianist
Great piano works by Frédéric Chopin
Our Artistic Director, Edmund Barton Bullock, is delighted to present a programme this year entirely devoted to the works of Frédéric Chopin, beginning with the First Ballade – Chopin’s favourite piece – three mazurkas, traditional dances from the plains of the Mazovia region, the sublime ‘Barcarolle’, and concluding the second half with the monumental Sonata in B minor. An evening not to be missed!
Pianist and composer Edmund Barton Bullock was born in the United States, in North Carolina, in 1956. Born into a family of musicians, he began studying the piano at a very early age, as well as the violin, the organ, the tuba and, later, composition.
At the age of 15, he composed his first sextet, which was performed at the Eastern Music Festival, conducted by the young conductor Carl Roskott.
At the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he graduated with a degree in piano performance,
with honours.
In 1978, he worked with the French pianist Daniel Ericourt, who was then artist-in-residence. On his advice, Bullock came to France at the age of 22 to continue his piano studies, where he worked with Pierre Sancan, a professor at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM). He then was unanimously awarded the Teaching Licence, as well as a first prize for performance for the prestigious Concert Licence from the École Normale de Musique de Paris in 1988.
He then studied under Yevgeni Malini, Thérèse Dussaut and Lucette Descaves. In the United States, he honed his skills in composition and orchestral conducting under Robert Sirota – former Director of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore – and later studied orchestration with Guillaume Connesson in Paris.
In 2014, Bullock co-founded the Festival International de Musique en Occitanie, of which he is the Artistic Director.
To lovers of classical music and audiences in south-west France, this great artist needs no introduction.
For those less familiar with the world of music, he is an American-born pianist and composer with an impressive track record. Bullock has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues and for royalty such as the Prince Consort of Denmark and his wife, Queen Margarethe II.
Many of his compositions have been performed in the United States and across Europe.
He exudes a profound inner depth, a wisdom that lends him an air of profundity and a touch of mysticism. As he plays, his face contorts with the most contrasting expressions. His face lights up or grows sombre as the notes unfold, drawing the audience into a shared experience where universal harmony reigns. Jacques Brel said in one of his songs: ‘It’s as if he were praying’.
He performs his own works as well as those of the great masters, as a soloist, chamber musician or with an orchestra, throughout North America and Europe before diverse and enthusiastic audiences.
Bullock has a gift for revealing the magic and history of each piece through a few words of explanation, and performs at prestigious venues such as the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, and the French embassies in Canada and Spain.
His love for France, the many years he has spent there and the fact that he still lives there have made him… ‘the American of France’ – a France that loves him and returns that love.
