Barricades

Jean Rondeau (harpsichord, France)
Thomas Dunford (archiliuto, France)

Couperin, de Visée, Marais, D’Anglebert, Forqueray

Jean Rondeau studied harpsichord with Blandine Verlet for over ten years, followed by training in basso continuo, organ, piano, jazz and improvisation, and conducting. He pursued further studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, graduating with honours, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

In 2012, at just 21 years old, he became one of the youngest performers ever to take the First Prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (MAfestival 2012), followed by several other prominent prizes. Rondeau is in demand for solo, chamber music, and orchestral appearances throughout Europe and in the United States. Rondeau is signed to Erato as an exclusive recording artist and has released three internationally acclaimed solo albums.

Born in Paris in 1988, Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at the age of nine. He completed his studies in 2006 at the Conservatoire de Paris, when he obtained a unanimous 1st Prize with honors in the class of Charles-Edouard Fantin. He continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith, and participated in several masterclasses with artists of international caliber. Since 2005, Thomas has made numerous solo or ensemble appearances in the most prestigious European festivals and played recitals in New York’s Carnegie Hall and Frick Collection, and London’s Wigmore Hall among others. Thomas Dunford is regularly in demand, playing a variety of early plucked string instruments with European leading early music ensembles. 

Thomas Dunford’ first solo CD Lachrimae recorded for the French label Alpha in 2012, was unanimously acclaimed by critics and was awarded the Caecilia prize of 2013, BBC Magazine calling him the “Eric Clapton of the lute”. His second CD “Labirinto d’Amore”  was awarded the “Choc” from Classica magazine.