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The Canadian choral conductor and music pedagogue, Didier Seutin, first began to study music with the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal in Quebec. Having graduated with distinction from the organ department of the Montreal Conservatoire (Academy of Music), he was then able to complete his training in France with André Isoir and Odile Bailleux through a grant endowed by the Conseil des Arts du Canada and the Ministère des Affaires Culturelles of Quebec. This resulted in his being awarded, again with honors, the diplomas of both Boulogne-Billancourt and Bourg-la-Reine Conservatories. An eclectic musician, Seutin then proceeded to study choir and orchestra conducting with Pierre Calmelet and Anton Swarowsky. In 1995, he was awarded the Diplôme d’Etat de direction d’ensemble vocaux.
Since then, Didier Seutin has been eager to pass on both his passion and experience in the various schools where he has been teaching. At the Conservatoire Mozart in Paris, where he is now currently in charge of the children’s choirs, he has developed a method enabling his students to extend their singing practice through participation to
three workshops - Petite Schola, Atelier polyphonique and Atelier «Sur les pas du jazz» - each responding to the diverse range of singing abilities and tastes. The workshops regularly perform in many prestigious places in Paris such as the Louvre Museum, the Théâtre du Chatelet, or the Eglise Saint-Eustache.
As the artistic director of the Choeur de Femmes de Paris from 1995 to 2009, Didier Seutin took part in the first production of Jacques Castérède’s Cantique de la Création and Antoine d’Ormesson’s Chemin de la Croix, both in Ile de France. During his years as Kapellmeister to the Eglise Saint-Eustache in Paris, Seutin conducted the Société des Chanteurs de Saint-Eustache to perform a number of major pieces such as J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) and St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (Felix Mendelssohn Version), Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore etc.
On the more contemporary side, Didier Seutin has been entrusted with the first production and recording of Antoine d’Ormesson’s Chemin de la Croix (adapted from Paul Claudel) as well as with the production of d’Ormesson’s chapel opera L’amour de Madeleine (for the Comminges Festival).
Didier Seutin’s dedication to music leads him repeatedly to arrange and transcribe pieces for the various vocal and instrumental groups, including chamber music, under his conducting. This is done with the utmost respect for the different styles of music. His recent orchestral arrangement of Katia Saariaho’s Horloge, tais-toi ! was thus published by Chester Music in 2009. |
