News

HaRpy New Year 2018

"In Between" - a new CD release coming November 2

With "In between", this is the 8th album that Isabelle Olivier presents at the Café de la Danse in Paris. A milestone always so fine, joyful and playful.

Isabelle Olivier's work has something totally unique. "In between" offers an intimate, rich and very subtle sound exploration. Something more "penetrated" than penetrating, in the image of this other figure of the landscape that is "the edge": area of contact, which far from being a break, is a bond; which far from being a line is a thickness. The problem of the edge has always been of interest to landscapers. Today, it appears as a primordial societal element to live in a respectful and plural world.

Surrounded by exceptional young musicians, she takes you into a magnificent world of humanity. "I thought ‘In between’ as a form of an ‘artistic permaculture’. Each piece tells a story. Consistency is naturally required. The evidence of this synergy is my thought. I am passionate about the process. I look forward to sharing it with you!"

Jazzwoman, composer and harpist with a strong musical personality, Isabelle Olivier brings a wave of freshness and novelty to the international scene by imposing a surprising and lesser known instrument.

She has recorded 8 discs and has traveled to 22 countries to present her musical creations. For the past 5 years, she has split her time between France and the United States and is leading her project with brilliance and jubilation.

Solicited by many artists from all fields such as Agnès Varda or Adbellatif Kéchiche for cinema, Emilie Valantin or Michel Bruzat for theater, Maîtrise of Radio France for music or Trinity College of London for Master classes, she develops a very recognizable style from the first notes of this fascinating and rare instrument.

She is currently the ambassador of the new electro-acoustic harp of Salvi "Rainbow" throughout the world. Laureate of Villa Le Nôtre in 2015 in Versailles, she is the first musician and composer rewarded by this foundation. In 2017, a new piece was commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago for "In between Gauguin" as a response to the exhibition "Gauguin the Alchemist".

Summer Newsletter

Isabelle Olivier Spring Newsletter 2017

"Fantasy is an eternal spring" Johann Friedrich von Schiller

In March, which is the beginning of spring, I am delighted to introduce my new project «In between» at the Theatre du Marais in Paris, then in Chicago, New York, Versailles, Janvry, Paris ... We invite the poet Jacques Dor, Actress and stage director Elise Chatauret, musicians Fraser Campbell, Devin Gray, Raphaël Olivier, Hugo Proy, David Peycha, Dré Pallmaerts, painters Elise Glickman, Mapie Guillaud and Esperanza Gama, naturalist Sean Shaffer, haRpy Choir, students and we will associate all the inhabitants of the area involved with this reflection on “In between”.

The residence began with the Natural Park of the High Valley of Chevreuse, Villa Le Notre in Versailles, Chicago Park District in Chicago allowing it to intermingle with the public, the artists and specialists of all the disciplines concerned with the theme.

A questionnaire is offered in the form of an interview with the different publics, also discussions, artistic proposals always different according to the places and invited artists. The subject will be enriched by workshops and master classes offered to different generations.

As the next meetings unfold, we will forge links, questions, unique moments that will bring us together on both continents and will result in public recordings.

Then we will have the chance to play in June "Don’t worry, be haRpy" on the Hermione - replica of the Lafayette ship that is docked at Rochefort. What a wonderful symbol of the French-American friendship and the best sign of freedom!

In July I will have the honor of creating a special performance on Gauguin in association with the team of the Art Institute of Chicago for an exhibition which will be held all summer in Chicago and which will then be presented at the Musée d'Orsay.

Thank you to all our partners who allow this project produced by Metamorphose to be solidified: Region Ile de France, Departmental Council of Yvelines, Departmental Council of Essonne, Natural Park of the High Valley of Chevreuse, Foundation Villa Le Nôtre, Chicago Park District, SPEDIDAM, SACEM, Salvi.

For me, to paraphrase Johann Friedrich von Schiller, spring is a dynamic season with the blossoming of nature, accompanied by a permanent fantasy.

Looking forward to welcoming you soon “In between” which I hope you will find enchanting as much as the jazz opera“Don’t worry, be harpy”.

January 2017