
Orchestre National de Metz Grand Est
Orchestra
- Friday, July 11, 8:00 PM
- Basilique Saint-Remi, Reims
Founded in 1976 and directed by David Reiland, the Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est (first named Orchestre philharmonique de Lorraine, Philharmonie de Lorraine and then Orchestre national de Lorraine until 2018) was awarded the "Orchestre national en région" label by the French Ministry of Culture in 2002.
With its 72 musicians, the Orchestra gives over 90 concerts and performances a year.
In Metz, it is in permanent residence at the Arsenal (inaugurated in 1989 by the Orchestra in the presence of Mstislav Rostropovitch) and performs regularly in the pit of the Opéra-Théâtre de l'Eurométropole de Metz.
The orchestra also performs throughout the Grand Est region (Reims, Strasbourg, Châlons-en-Champagne, Hombourg-Haut, Epinal...) and elsewhere in France and abroad: South Korea, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Turkey...
He is a regular guest at prestigious venues such as the Seoul Arts Center, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris... and takes part in numerous festivals: Festival Berlioz, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Festival Musica, Festival de Laon, Flâneries musicales de Reims, Festival des Abbayes en Lorraine, Festival de Fénétrange...
Since its inception, the company has had a succession of musical directors, up to and including David Reiland: Michel Tabachnik, Emmanuel Krivine, Jacques Houtmann, Jacques Lacombe and Jacques Mercier, as well as numerous guest conductors, including Michel Plasson, Bertrand de Billy, Lionel Bringuier, Raphaël Frühbeck de Burgos, François-Xavier Roth and Adrian Prabava.
David Reiland becomes Music and Artistic Director of the Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est in September 2018, marking a new stage in the Orchestra's history.
He succeeds Jacques Mercier, who conducted the orchestra for 16 years, enabling him to tackle a wide variety of repertoires, with a particular affection for French music.
David Reiland pursues this artistic line, giving pride of place to French music, while taking the orchestra to new horizons. The classical repertoire, with Mozart and Haydn, is addressed more regularly, as is contemporary music, with the introduction of new pieces to the Orchestra's repertoire (Rebecca Saunders, Franck Bedrossian, Kaija Saariaho, Toshio Hosokawa, Olga Neuwirth, Jonathan Harvey, etc.), including several premieres (Philippe Hersant, Clara Iannotta, Karol Beffa Edith Canat de Chizy, Florent Caron Darras, Brice Pauset...).
In 2019, David Reiland initiated the Gabriel Pierné International Conducting Masterclasses, held each year to support and promote talented young conductors.
With the creation of the Cité musicale-Metz, the Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est is developing numerous joint projects with the Arsenal, the BAM and the Trinitaires: participation in joint highlights, concerts crossing aesthetics, joint hosting of composers in residence, collaboration with other associate artists... all facets of a project bringing together all types of music and all types of audiences.
Artistic and cultural education and the creation of social links are at the heart of the Orchestra's priorities, which implements within the Metz Eurometropolis but also on the regional territory numerous mediation actions aimed at school audiences and families as well as audiences furthest from music. The Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est has been leading and coordinating the Démos Metz Moselle project since late 2016, with two orchestras involving over 200 children.
Since 2009, the orchestra has had its own "Maison de l'Orchestre", where it rehearses and experiments with a wide range of teaching methods.
Audiovisual activities also play an important role in the Orchestra's activities: Victoires de la musique, Prodiges, concert broadcasts on France Musique, Radio classique and SWR2.