Opening up the imagination of the piano
After conducting research through improvisation on the prepared piano, I am now developing organological research with various projects that open up the field of the piano and renew its instrument making.
What drives me is to give substance to this experimental treatment of the piano through composition and stage performance. For me, it’s about inhabiting the piano in a different way, exploring its history, challenging its conventions, the ways of playing it, hearing it, and re-enchanting it… And doing so simultaneously through different perspectives, where music blends with and is nourished by the visual arts, dance, and theater.
In 2021, I created Pianomachine, an instrument fitted with an electromechanical system. Several projects will emerge from this device :
- Pianomachine(2021) Sound and choreographed show – commissioned by GMEM-Marseille
- Labo pianomachine– (2022) improvised duo with Vivien Trelcat
- A ear alone is not a being (2026) – theatrical concert – commissioned by the Printemps des Arts festival in Monte Carlo.
The instrument was commissioned by GMEM-CNCM Marseille, prototyped by students at INSA Lyon, and then produced by the Collectif Sonopopée.
In 2023, I developed another instrument, a grand piano that can be completely dismantled and is capable of “flying” on stage. This research was conducted with Thomas Garçin, a piano maker, and resulted in:
- Anatomia (2023) A sound show based on the dissection of a piano and a work by Franz Liszt
In 2025, I created a show for children with sculptures of piano parts made by Maeva Prigent. (Set design by AnneSophie Berard)
- An additional country (2025) – commissioned by Ici-l’onde
Since 2026, I have been conducting new research with a device that transforms a Disklavier piano into a physical simulation engine via the Max/MSP environment. Projects in progress for 2026 and 2027