ONJ Youth Orchestra #1

Residency in the Île-de-France region

For its inaugural season, it was only fitting that the Orchestre des Jeunes would symbolically dedicate its work to the compositions of the very first musical director of the ONJ, François Jeanneau. Under the direction of the saxophonist and composer, the 20 young French and European musicians selected for the first installment of this unprecedented adventure with a large ensemble revived eight pieces borrowed from the ONJ 1986 repertoire, most of which were recorded on the unique “Orchestre National des Jazz 86” album.

Starting in February 2019, the Orchestra settled in Paris for its residencies, primarily at  Union des Musiciens de Jazz, and performed in concert at the Bateau Phare, the Beat and Beer Festival, Studio de l’Ermitage, as well as outside the capital at Salle Étoile de Jade (Saint-Brévin-les-Pins) and Val’Rhone (Moncé-en-Belin). Fueled by the vitality of the musicians, this first season brought back to light, much to our pleasure, the lush, modernist “fusion” jazz of François Jeanneau, along with compositions by Gil Evans and John Coltrane.