"DJANGO ALLA CORDA"

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Pierre Blanchard has years of experience in training string players at various music schools by having them practice and perform his own works. His original arrangements focus on the music of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli with the addition of a string orchestra (violins, violas, celli and double basses) playing along with a manouche jazz trio and himself on violin and conducting.

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Participating students must have a minimum proficiency equivalent to French 2e cycle. Rehearsals before the final concert include an introduction to swing rhythm and jazz bowing. Basic improvisation is also taught from simple chord progressions (Minor swing), which allows some students to perform choruses during the concert.

The string instrument plays most of the melodies and heavily supports soloists with tutti passages requiring jazz feeling and technique.

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