Menu
Close
Musicaventure Alone, with family, friends or colleagues, live an exhilarating and original adventure in the heart of the Abbaye aux Dames! Test Musicaventure
Contactl'Abbaye Aux Dames Phone: +33 (0)5 46 97 48 48 info@abbayeauxdames.org

Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye/Master’s degree

Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye/Master’s degree
---

The Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye

The Abbaye aux Dames is the musical centre of Saintes. Our desire to pass on our love of music naturally led to the creation of the Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye (JOA – the abbey’s youth orchestra).
The JOA offers professional training that is unrivalled in Europe. It enables young musicians finishing their studies or just embarking on their careers to interpret classical and romantic pieces using period instruments. The JOA provides young musicians with both training and an entry into the world of work. It offers them an authentic experience of the stage, as well as the opportunity to forge artistic bonds.
The intrinsically cosmopolitan JOA has now existed for over twenty years. It has never faltered in its pursuit of excellence.

The Abbey Young Orchestra in 2023:
– 6 sessions including 3 orchestral courses and 3 chamber music courses
– 114 young musicians of 20 different nationalities
– 165 participants in all courses
– 35 French and foreign higher education establishments represented
– 17 students in the Master M-RPE program
– Geographical origin of students : France, Spain, Italy, England, Argentina, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Australia, Poland, Colombia, USA, Ireland, Mexico, Moldavia, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark

Alumni satisfaction rate:
– 87.5% consider that the JOA enabled them to improve their professional network
– 55% of musicians claim to have found a job after the course
(Survey conducted in December 2023)

JOA students have found employment with the following orchestras: La grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Warsav Chamber Opera, Orchestre de Suisse Romande, Les Siècles, l’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, l’Orchestre Philarmonique du Luxembourg, Musiciens du Louvre, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestre Philarmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestra Da Camera Fiorentina, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Hastings Philarmonic, Le Concert Spirituel, Capriccio Barockorchester Basel, Lublin Philarmony, Insula Orchestra.

Catherine Puig
Director of the Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye (JOA)

Catherine Puig began her musical studies of piano, viola and conducting in Nimes. The viola became her favourite instrument and she obtained her diploma in this discipline at the CNSM of Lyon. At this time she was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra and had the opportunity to play under the direction of great conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta. At the end of her studies, a meeting with Jean-Claude Malgoire allowed her to explore historically informed performance on period instruments. She then played with several groups including Mosaïques and Collegium Vocale before joining the Orchestre de Champs-Elysées at its creation. She participated in numerous recordings with the orchestra and with Philippe Herreweghe. Around this time she obtained her professor’s Vocational Certificate of viola. She also collaborated in the publishing of the Manuscript Rost with Fuzeau and Ricercare de Gabrielli with Billaudot. As conductor she has managed educational projects around Mozart’s  comic opera Bastien Bastienne (2008), Gounod’s  The Dove (2009), Grétry’s The  Speaking Picture (2010) and Mozart’s The goose of Cairo (2011). Her interest for teachning and her experience of historically informed performance come together at the Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes where she now heads the Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye training programme.