Camille Thomas

Optimism, vitality, and exuberance are integral to Camille Thomas's personality. The young French-Belgian cellist, who signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in April 2017, understands the power of art to bring people from different cultures, countries, and walks of life together. Her love for life and her desire to open up the wonders and emotions of classical music to listeners define her artistry. "I am convinced that music can expand hearts and give greater intensity to all emotions," she explains. "It offers hope for the beauty and grandeur of the human soul." Her second album for Deutsche Grammophon, Voice of Hope, will be released internationally on June 5, 2020. At its heart is the world premiere recording of Fazil Say's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra "Never Give Up," the composer's response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and Istanbul. Thomas premiered the work, dedicated to her, in Paris in April 2018. The album, recorded with the Brussels Philharmonic and conductors Mathieu Herzog and Stéphane Denève, also includes Bruch's Kol Nidrei and transcriptions of vocal pieces by a wide range of composers – from Purcell to Gluck, Bellini, and Wagner, all the way to John Williams. It is the first classical album created in partnership with UNICEF. Camille Thomas’s debut album for the yellow label was released in October 2017. It featured lyrical works for cello and orchestra from the French Romantic period, such as Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 Op. 33 and “Les larmes de Jacqueline” from Offenbach’s Harmonies des bois Op. 76. Recorded with the Orchestre National de Lille and conductor Alexandre Bloch, it also included guest appearances by Rolando Villazón and Nemanja Radulović. Critics widely applauded it (Gramophone: “Camille Thomas… creates a sound that immediately reminds me of hot chocolate: delicious, with an intense, comforting flavor. You immediately know you are in good hands.”). Camille Thomas was born in Paris in 1988. She began playing the cello at the age of four and made such rapid progress that she soon received lessons from the esteemed teacher Marcel Bardon. In 2006, she moved to Berlin to study with Stephan Forck and Frans Helmerson at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, and after graduating, she continued her studies with Wolfgang-Emanuel Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar. Even before leaving university, Camille Thomas debuted in famous concert halls such as Salle Gaveau and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Victoria Hall in Geneva, and the Jerusalem Music Centre, where she was immediately invited back. The young cellist's artistic maturity also earned her a number of competition prizes. Her international breakthrough came in February 2014, when she was nominated as "Young Artist of the Year" at the 21st Victoires de la Musique Classique – the French equivalent of the Grammy Awards. Eight months later, she won the European Broadcasting Union's talent competition. She was chosen as "Young Soloist of the Year 2016" by the Belgian broadcaster RTBF's program C’est du Belge in collaboration with Paris Match magazine, and in January 2018, she was included in Forbes magazine's prestigious "30 Under 30" list. The cellist regularly appears on television – in programs such as TF1's Le Journal de 20h, ZDF's Morgenmagazin and Weihnachten mit dem Bundespräsidenten, ARD's Titel, Thesen, Temperamente, Bayerischer Rundfunk's Capriccio, ARTE's Metropolis, 3Sat's Kulturzeit, and Deutsche Welle. In February 2016, she was a guest on Rolando Villazón's "Stars von morgen" on Arte, and shortly thereafter, she reached an international online audience when medici.tv broadcast her first concert at the Flâneries Musicales de Reims. In addition to her solo work, Camille Thomas is also deeply committed to chamber music. Her first album, A Century of Russian Colours, recorded with Swiss pianist Beatrice Berrut, was released in 2013 and received widespread international critical acclaim. Her second album, Reminiscences, recorded with Belgian pianist Julien Libeer and released in September 2016, received the Echo Klassik 2017 for the best chamber music recording (19th century) of the year. Highlights of Camille Thomas’s 2018/19 season included performances of Fazil Say’s “Never Give Up” with the Orchestre symphonique de Bretagne and the Belgian premiere of the work with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She also performed Lalo’s Cello Concerto multiple times, including her acclaimed debut with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Equally successful were her debut at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and her residency at the Ryedale Festival in July 2019, which also included her UK concert debut (Elgar, with the Orchestra of Opera North in Scarborough). In September 2019, it was announced that Thomas received the Stradivari "Feuermann" on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation for one year. She then performed Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in the USA and gave a solo recital in Mount Vernon (Illinois), as well as two recitals with pianist Julien Brocal, the second of which was at the New York Town Hall. Back in Europe, she performed the Austrian premiere of "Never Give Up" at the Salzburg Mozarteum. On a concert tour to the Middle East, she recently performed Bach's Cello Suites at the Dubai Opera House. 2/2020