CONCERT FIMÒ : SONGS OF THE NIGHT

Songs of the Night

A journey through moonlit piano music, tangos and melodies

In partnership with the Festival International de Musique en Occitanie (FIMO), the Festival Déodat de Séverac and Martres-Tolosane Town Council, we are offering the people of Martres a unique evening entitled Songs of the Night – a journey through beautiful French melodies, Debussy’s *Clair de Lune* and Argentine tangos, culminating in the French premiere of a cycle of eight melodies for mezzo-soprano, violin, cello and piano by the Franco-American pianist and composer, Edmund Barton Bullock, Artistic Director and co-founder of FIMO, which will be performed by the mezzo-soprano, Marie Cubaynes.

François Pardailhé, tenor
Marie Cubaynes, mezzo-soprano
Natacha Triadou, violin
Louise Grévin, cello
Edmund Barton Bullock, pianist and composer

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François Pardailhé began his career playing the French horn before turning to opera singing. A graduate of the Toulouse Conservatoire, he joined the Michel Plasson International Academy of French Music and subsequently became artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, where he studied under Sophie Koch, José Van Dam and later Stéphane Degout.
A prize-winner at several international competitions, he performs regularly as a soloist with renowned ensembles and opera houses, both in France and abroad. He has performed notably at the Opéra National du Capitole in Toulouse, the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa in Warsaw, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Palais des Festivals in Santander, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, as well as the Flagey and Bozar venues in Brussels.
He has also collaborated with prestigious ensembles such as the Corum de Montpellier, the Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, the Toulouse Baroque Chamber Orchestra, the Archipels-Les Éléments Choir, Les Passions, the MUCH Ensemble, the Toulouse Mozart Orchestra, the Musiciens du Louvre, the Concert Spirituel, the Ensemble À Bout de Souffle, the Musique Royale des Guides, the Zurich Kammeroper, the Frascati Symphony Orchestra, and the Casco Phil Chamber Orchestra.
His career began at the Colmar International Festival in 2017. In May 2018, he made his debut at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in J. Offenbach’s *La Périchole*, with Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski. In December 2018, he appeared as a soloist in W.A. Mozart’s Mass in C and G.F. Handel’s Ode to Saint Cecilia on a European tour, and recorded the Mass in C for the Pantatone label. In 2019, he played the roles of Oloferno and Vitellozzo in *Lucrezia Borgia* at the Opéra national du Capitole in Toulouse and Spoletta in G. Puccini’s *Tosca*, conducted by Emmanuel Plasson. In September and November 2019, he performed the roles of Guillot and Charles in A. Grétry’s *Richard the Lionheart* with Le Concert Spirituel, conducted by Hervé Niquet at the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles. This production was recorded and a DVD is available on the Château de Versailles label. In November 2019, he reprised his role in *La Périchole* with Les Musiciens du Louvre at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux and recorded a live performance available on the Palazzetto Bru Zane label. In March 2020, he played Benvolio in Gounod’s *Roméo et Juliette* at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, conducted by Paul Daniel. In October 2020, he played Gérald in *L’Histoire enchantée de Lakmé* at the Opéra royal de Wallonie-Liège. In July 2021, he played the teapot, arithmetic and the reinette in Ravel’s *L’Enfant et les sortilèges*, conducted by Emmanuel Plasson. In August–September 2021, he played Jupin in the touring production *La Péniche Offenbach*, directed by Charlotte Nessi, in Franche-Comté and Occitanie. In March 2022, he sang the role of Castor in J.-P. Rameau’s *Castor et Pollux* at Odyssud, with the ensemble *À bout de souffle*, conducted by Stéphane Delincak and directed by Patrick Abejean.
In July 2022 and 2023, he took part in the Encuentros de Música y Academia de Santander, conducted by Peter Csaba, as well as the Festival Déodat de Séverac in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, conducted by Jean-Jacques Cubaynes. In September and November 2022, he was a soloist in Carl Orff’s *Carmina Burana* with the Royal Belgian Guides’ Wind Orchestra, conducted by Yves Segers. In January 2023, he played the role of Ermano in G. Rossini’s *L’Equivoco Stravagante* in Zurich. In May 2023, he played Pierre in the production *The Story of the Tin Soldier*, produced by the Artichoke Company. In June 2023, he will play the role of the Chaplain in F. Poulenc’s *Le Dialogue des Carmélites* at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, conducted by Speranza Scappucci. In September 2023, he takes part in the season opener at the Opéra Comique in Paris in A. Lecoq’s *La Fille de Madame Angot*, and in November 2023, he performs a role in Mussorgsky’s *Boris Godunov* at the Opéra national du Capitole in Toulouse.
Over the 2023 festive season, he was invited to perform in a series of concerts in China with the Frascati Orchestra of Leuven, conducted by Kris Stroobants. In February and March 2024, he reprised his role in *Boris Godunov* at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. In April 2024, he was invited by the Zopera company to perform the role of Menelaus in Offenbach’s *La Belle Hélène* at the Manège in Vienna. In June 2024, he will appear at La Monnaie in Brussels in G. Puccini’s *Turandot*. In December 2024, he will present his ‘Artiste Diplomat’ programme at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and take part in Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s 8th Symphony and Wagner’s ‘Götterdämmerung’ with the La Monnaie Choir in Brussels. In April 2025, he was invited by the singer Francesco Medda to perform the role of Alfredo in G. Verdi’s *La Traviata* in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. In May 2025, he will play Menelaus in J. Offenbach’s *La Belle Hélène* in a production by Lab Opéra Bourgogne at the Zénith in Dijon. In June 2025, he will sing the role of Tamino in W.A. Mozart’s *The Magic Flute* at the Castelnaudary Festival.
In September 2025, he will play Torquemada in Maurice Ravel’s *L’Heure Espagnole* at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

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Born in Toulouse into a family of artists, Marie Cubaynes began studying the piano at the age of six at the Toulouse Regional National Conservatoire, and very soon joined its children’s choir, conducted by Rolandas Muleïka. Drawn to the stage from a very early age, she made her stage debut at the age of nine in Jérôme Savary’s legendary production of Bizet’s *Carmen* at the Bregenz Festival in Austria.

In 2006, she moved to Paris to study singing with the soprano Michèle Command and obtained a DEM in Opera Singing at the Paris Regional National Conservatoire. At the same time, she undertook the stage and role-study courses at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, taught by the director Mireille Larroche and the baritone Jean-Philippe Lafont.

In 2011, she was recruited by the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg to join its Opera Studio.

Since 2013, she has pursued a career as a soloist both in France (Scène Nationale de Besançon, La Soufflerie in Nantes, the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, etc.) and abroad (Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Nouvel Opéra Fribourg in Switzerland, Yatsugatake Ongakudo in Japan…), working under the baton of conductors such as René Jacobs, David Syrus, Enrique Mazzola, Daniele Callegari, Marko Letonja, Roger Vignoles, Pierre Bleuse, Romain Dumas, Quentin Hindley… and with directors such as Sir Jonathan Miller, Olivier Py, Stéphane Braunschweig, Waut Koeken, Christophe Gayral, Sandrine Anglade…

At the same time, she has received guidance from eminent performers and vocal coaches such as Gabriel Bacquier, Michel Sénéchal and Ludovic Tézier; vocal coaches Fabrice Boulanger, David Selig, Anne Grapotte, Umberto Finazzi, Felice Venanzoni and Alessandro Amoretti; and stage directors Ruth Orthmann, Guy-Pierre Couleau and Anne Le Guernec.

Her principal roles include: Mélisande (Debussy, *Pelléas et Mélisande*), Cherubino (Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Mozart, Così fan tutte), Kate Julian (Britten, Owen Wingrave), Concepciòn (Ravel, L’Heure Espagnole), Flavia Gemmira (Cavalli, *L’Eliogabalo*), Maddalena (Verdi, *Rigoletto*), The Queen (M.F. Lange, *Schneewitchen*), Puss in Boots (C. Cui, *Le Chat Botté*), The Black Fairy (Respighi, *La Bella addormentata nel bosco*)…

She also devotes a large part of her career to recitals, where she performs an eclectic repertoire ranging from French mélodie (Séverac, Canteloube, Ravel, Berlioz…) to German lieder (Wagner, Zemlinsky…), including Finnish art songs (Sibelius, Merikanto, Kuula…), which she studied under the Finnish soprano Marja Holopainen, and Catalan art songs (Mompou, Toldra, Montsalvatge…) and Spanish art songs (Falla, Lorca, Turina, Granados…), alongside the pianists Nino Pavlenichvili, Inessa Lecourt, Barton Bullock, Izumi Tateno and Ayumi Hirahara, and guitarists Vicente Pradal, Petri Kumela, Eric Franceries and Pascal Sanchez…

In 2021 and 2023, she recorded for the prestigious Outhere Music/Harmonia Mundi label, two albums with the Ensemble Tarentule, the first dedicated to Carlo Gesualdo’s Fourth Book of Madrigals (awarded by the Italian music magazine *Musica*), and the second to Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s five-part French songs.

Since 2024, she has been a member of the Ut Musica Poesis collective, which brings together opera singers, instrumentalists, directors and composers to explore various vocal repertoires (art song, opera, polyphony…), ranging from medieval music to contemporary works.

She has recently taken part in three contemporary premieres: ‘Les Mots Fantômes’ by Gérard Zinsstag as part of the Festyvocal Contemporary Music Festival in Firminy; ‘Orphée / Lumières (Mystères)’ by Fabrice Jünger with the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, conducted by Bruno Mantovani, at the 4th Biennale de Musique Contemporaine (Le Corbusier Church, Firminy) ; and “La Belle Folie” by Denis Bosse at the Auditorium Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines and the Chapelle des Carmélites in Toulouse.

In 2025, she will become Artistic Director, alongside Xavier de Lignerolles, of the Déodat de Séverac Festival (Toulouse / Saint-Félix-Lauragais), whose mission is to breathe new life into the work and ideas of Déodat de Séverac.

She will very soon be appearing in ‘Le Retour du Capitaine Nemo’, a musical by Bruno Letort, based on the latest graphic novel in the comic book series *Les Cités Obscures* by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, as part of the ‘Hypermondes’ Festival of the Imagination in Mérignac

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‘I was so impressed by her playing… she will bring great credit to culture in France’
Lord Yehudi MENUHIN

Natacha TRIADOU’s exceptional talent has been recognised by the greatest masters of the violin. After discovering the instrument at the age of 4 and making her first public appearances two years later, she continued her training at the Conservatoire National de Toulouse, where she performed as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of 11 and, at 12, won First Prize in music theory. The following year, she was awarded the Gold Medal for violin and, at the age of 14, gave her first televised performance at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse.

Her meeting with Lord Yehudi MENUHIN proved decisive: impressed by her playing, he invited her to study at his school in England, near London. There, she further developed her art under his guidance and that of other great masters of the music world: Christopher ROWLAND, Peter NORRIS, Mauricio FUKS… Following this prestigious training, she studied at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany, and took part in Zachar BRON’s masterclasses as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. She then met Alberto LYSY, who invited her to the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA) in Gstaad, Switzerland, where she received tuition from him and other internationally renowned musicians…

Her musicality and virtuosity enable her to tackle all repertoires, whether as a soloist, in a duo or in various chamber ensembles, etc. Natacha has performed in numerous concerts and taken part in international seasons and festivals, including: the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, the ‘George Enescu’ Festival (Romania), the Estoril Festival (Portugal), the Goslar-Harz Festival (Germany), the Toulouse les Orgues Festival, Les Automnales du Mans Festival, the Goethe Gesellschaft (Germany), the Fêtes de Sainte Cécile at Albi Cathedral, the Nocturnes d’Opale Festival, Interlaken Classics (Switzerland), the ‘C’est pas Classique’ Festival at the Acropolis in Nice, etc.

She premiered Adrien CASSEL’s violin concerto ‘Madness and Salvation’ at the Théâtre de Fontainebleau with the Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed as a soloist in concertos by BRAHMS, BEETHOVEN, MENDELSSOHN, Paganini’s No. 1, etc., with the Chamber Orchestra of London, the Camerata Lysy, the European Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tübinger Kammermusikkreis, the Le Mans Symphony Orchestra, the Toulouse Orchestral Ensemble, the South-West Symphony Orchestra, the Menuhin Camerata, etc., and at prestigious venues such as: the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Paul Klee Centre in Bern, the Abbey Church of La Chaise-Dieu, the Basilica of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, the Royal Abbey of L’Epau, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Palais des Congrès in Le Mans, Montpellier Cathedral, the Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris, Rouen Cathedral, Sylvanès Abbey, the Kultur Casino in Bern, Reims Cathedral, Lille Cathedral, the Yehudi Menuhin Forum in Bern, Toulouse Cathedral, Mont Saint-Michel, and others.

Finally, she devotes part of her time to teaching, notably through masterclasses, serving on juries, and various initiatives in France and abroad. She has enthusiastically taken on the role of educational director for an exceptional project, in which all the children at a primary school (105 little violinists!) gave a fabulous concert, just a few weeks after taking up the violin…!

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Louise Grévin began playing the cello at the age of five and, at seventeen, was awarded the Diplôme d’Études Musicales from the Toulouse Conservatoire with first prize.

She continued her postgraduate studies in Paris and then in the United States, completing a Master of Music in North Carolina and an advanced training programme at the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston.

During her time in the US, she won numerous competitions and was selected for renowned international festivals such as the Taos Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival. At the latter, she was conducted by Stéphane Denève, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the composer John Williams.

During her training, Louise benefited from the guidance of renowned concert musicians such as Pauline Bartissol, Marc Coppey, Philippe Müller, Renaud Déjardin, Brooks Whitehouse, Yeesun Kim and Llùis Claret.

On her return to France, she initiated a number of original musical projects, such as her duo Louise&Hubert with bandoneonist Hubert Plessis, with whom she performs regularly, notably at the Passe ton Bach d’abord festival, the ‘Amérique Latine’ festival in Biarritz and numerous events centred on Argentine music. They have recorded their first album featuring arrangements of works by Astor Piazzolla, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ernest Bloch and Arvo Pärt.

Since meeting the composer Mino Malan, Louise has taken part in numerous musical productions by the Compagnie La Machine in Toulouse, Nantes and Calais, notably the urban operas staged in the streets of Toulouse in 2024 and Calais in 2025. Louise performs at these events as a singer and cellist.

Since 2024, the Trio Parade – launched on the initiative of saxophonist Ferdinand Doumerc, alongside guzheng player Jiang Nan – has been performing throughout France with a repertoire of original compositions blending jazz and world music. They are among the artists selected by the JMF (Jeunesses Musicales de France) and will perform within their national network from 2025 to 2027.

It was his meeting with the composer and oud player Lakhdar Hanou that led to the formation of the trio La Kahina Encantaira, with a repertoire blending Arab-Andalusian compositions and Baroque music, featuring female vocals, the cello and the oud. Their debut performance will take place at the Passe ton Bach d’abord festival in June 2024, and they will perform at numerous festivals and concert venues across Occitanie.

This year marks the start of her collaboration with David Eskenazy for the LYR trio, comprising two voices, two cellos and a piano. Their first concerts are scheduled for autumn 2026.

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Pianist and composer Edmund Barton Bullock was born in North Carolina, USA, in 1956. Born into a family of musicians, he began studying the piano at a very early age, as well as the violin, organ, 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 Ericourt’s 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 Licence d’Enseignement, as well as a first prize for performance for the prestigious Licence de Concert 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 greatest concert halls 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.