La chambre claire

Quentin Sirjacq, a native of Paris, studied classical piano from an early age. But by 15 he was a devotee of Ellington, Mingus and Coltrane, who began to exert as strong an influence on him as Ravel andSatie. His interest in classical and jazz music guided his studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at Mills College in Oakland, California, and shaped his development as pianist and improviser to composer. Though always faithful to the melodic line, Sirjacq has embraced the avant-garde and improvised music; he's performed or recorded with Fred Frith,Joëlle Léandre, and William Winant, in addition to realizing the works of James Tenney,Steve Reich, Frederic Rzewski and José Maceda, among others. His compositional approach combines strong, evocative melodic ideas with a sound treatment and organization taken from the disparate strains of musique actuelle (pop, electronic, improvised, experimental). This versatility has made Sirjacq's work a perfect fit for theater, television, radio and documentary films, where he has worked with Bruno Bayen, Marion Vernoux, Richard Bean,Jacques Taroni et Loui-Do de Lencquesaing.