Bowed strings department

The program prepares students for a wide range of careers and helps them develop a personal musical and artistic approach that takes into account current developments in artistic practices and the profession. Special emphasis is placed on the diversity of repertoires, instrumental and stylistic rigor across the various aesthetics covered, and the ability to deliver historically informed performances.

A career as a professional musician has a wide range of diversed activities :

• Orchestral, instrumental ensemble, or vocal ensemble musician
• Chamber music
• Performing arts, multi-disciplinary artistic projects (music, dance, theater, etc.)
• Teacher-musician, teacher in conservatoire or professor in associative music school (pedagogical program)

For all students, regardless of their professional goals, orchestral practice is central, and particular focus is placed on preparing for orchestral careers.

Special emphasis is also placed on exploring other fields of application for string instruments: early music, traditional music, and contemporary creation.

Internships and sessions: throughout the program, each student completes:

• One or several sessions with the “Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye aux Dames” in Saintes (JOA)
• An internship in a professional orchestra (35 hours)
• An internship for professional integration in a different environment : instrument maker, production/distribution, or festivals (35 hours)

Individualized pathways based on student projects and skills:

Thanks to partnerships with regional orchestras across Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes, Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Limoges, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine…), the curriculum can be supplemented by two optional pathways depending on the student’s preferences:

Orchestral immersion option: a partnership with the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine offers to audition-selected students an enhanced program providing genuine immersion within a professional orchestra.

Historically informed option: this optional track explores a wide range of repertoires—from the 17^th to the 20^th centuries— with a consistent research-led approach to practice, known as historically informed performance. To achieve this, core repertoire classes are taught by teachers specialized in the respective styles.