Midday classical concert in the Merode Salon

Raised in a environment of artists, with a Polish mother and a French father, Armand Witold Fessard began studying music with piano before concentrating on the clarinet. Graduating from the Versailles Conservatory with Carlos Ferreira as professor he’s studying at the Brussels Royal Conservatory in the class of Ronald Van Spaendonck. Selected last year to participate in the Fontainebleau American School he won there the Prix Maurice Ravel for the contemporary music interpretation. He is also laureate of Lion’s Club competition Thomas Kuti and from the West Pomeranian President scholarship (Poland). In 2024 his project “Dialogues with composers” received the patronage of the Polish Radio and Television. As part of the American School of Arts in Fontainebleau, he was taught by Robert Levine, Pierre-Henri Xuereb, Diana Ligeti and performed the version of “Killing me softly” for clarinet, piano and string quartet in the presence of composer Charles Fox with the students of the Curtis Institute and New-York Juilliard School of Music. He also performed the “Quartet for the End of Time” by Olivier Messiaen and many works of the clarinet repertory. As a soloist he has played the premiere the « Variations on the theme Olympic anthem » for clarinet and strings orchestra by Jean-Michel Ferran especially composed to celebrate the Olympic Games in France at the Fontainebleau Festival.

Franco-American cellist Benjamin Grynszpan is completing his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Marie Hallynck and is a participant in the Orchestral Academy with La Monnaie and the Belgian National Orchestra for the 25-26 season. Benjamin appears regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. He has performed in concert at the Salle Gaveau, Théâtre du Gymnase, and the Paris Philharmonic in France, as well as the Festival Musiq3 and the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels. He is the cellist of Le Quartet Funambule, an ensemble that has recorded two albums of original music scored for film, Pictures of the Past and Rhapsody of Remembrance, produced and released by PennyBank Tunes.

Franco-American violinist/violist William Grynszpan is completing his master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Nicolas Dupont and performs with the Ataneres and Etesiane ensembles. William appears regularly as a chamber musician and orchestral player. He has performed in concert at Bozar, Flagey Studio 4, the Théâtre Royal des Galeries, the Royal City Theatre of Bruges, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Fêtes Musicales de Savoie as well as the Festival Musiq3 and the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels. He is the violinist of Le Quartet Funambule, an ensemble that has recorded two albums of original music scored for film, Pictures of the Past and Rhapsody of Remembrance, produced and released by PennyBank Tunes.

Born into an artist’s family, Dominique Corbiau became involved in music at the age of four, playing piano, flute, and cello. However, it was through singing that he found his preferred form of expression. Drawn to the baroque period early on, the decision to develop his countertenor voice came naturally. After singing in the Children’s Choir of Belgian Radio and Television, he was admitted to the Royal Conservatories of Liège, Mons, and Brussels, where he graduated in Concert Singing, Opera Singing, and Chamber Music. Since then, Dominique Corbiau has performed in renowned venues across Belgium and abroad, accompanied by numerous prestigious ensembles and orchestras. Although his repertoire is primarily composed of works written for castrato voices, he also embraces romantic art songs and contemporary music, and has recorded several albums spanning diverse musical styles. In addition, he has cultivated the creative dimension of his profession by designing visually captivating performances that often forge connections between different forms of artistic expression. In this spirit, he founded his own company, Sferartefact, as well as the early music ensemble La Camerata Sferica, which represents the culmination of several years of musicological research exploring lesser-known masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries.