Born: France

The French conductor, Jean-François Frémont, joined the Petits Chanteurs de Versailles as a very young chorister and received a thorough musical education at the Conservatoires of Versailles (1973-1978) and Paris (1979-1984).This long period of study was punctuated by the receipt of various first prizes; at the same time he was working on choral and orchestral conducting with Philippe Gaillard, Stéphane Caillat and Dominique Rouitz, and singing with Jean Laurens, Marian Porebski and Marie-Claire Cotin. A deep interest in early music led him to study Gregorian chant with Dom Jean Claire at the Abbey of Solesmes and to extend his knowledge of the stylistics of early keyboard music with Michel Chapuis (organ) and Ivète Piveteau (harpsichord).

Appointed organist and musical director at the church of Notre Dame de Versailles in 1980, Jean-François Frémont took over the conductorship of the Petits Chanteurs and embarked on a course of in-depth technical study after advice from eminent musicians and an attentive study of the vocal techniques appropriate to the various European schools, an enterprise guided by the desire to improve tone quality in the interests of the emotional content of the music. This work has recently received recognition at the world première of Le Tombeau de Marc-Antoine Charpentier (TheTomb of Charpentier) by Thierry Pacou. It was performed in collaboration with the choirs of Radio France and the Centre de Musique Baroque, Versailles, to mark the inauguration of the restored historic organ at the royal chapel in the Palace of Versailles.

In 1996 Jean-François Frémont received an award from the Fondation d'Entreprise Natexis and he is Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Source: Clotilde Bertin (January 2005)
Contributed by Clotilde Bertin (January 2005)

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