ONJ Youth Orchestre #3

Residency in the Occintanie region, France

The third season of the Orchestre des Jeunes was devoted to music written by Denis Badault for the ONJ between 1991 and 1994. The 18 French and European musicians in training who made up this new class immersed themselves in the repertoire conceived by the pianist during that time, between original compositions and pieces freely inspired by Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington.

Starting in November 2021, the Orchestra set up shop in the Occitanie region, with a program of residencies and concerts at the Conservatoire de Montpellier, performances at the Koa Jazz Festival, La Casa Musicale in Perpignan as part of the Jazzèbre cultural season, the CIAM Music School in Bordeaux, the University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, and L’Astrada Marciac. The Orchestra also reached out to the audiences of Île-de-France with concerts at 360 Paris Music Factory, Studio de l’Ermitage, and the Ça Jazze Festival at Portes Briardes. Last but not least, that year’s class inaugurated the participation of the Orchestre des Jeunes in the Composition Academy, by performing alongside the trainees in the presentation concert of the first edition of the event.

In July 2023, Denis Badault passed away. A year later, the musicians of the Orchestre des Jeunes and nine of his fellow musicians paid him a fitting tribute at the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier in July 2024, under the musical direction of Frédéric Maurin.