Henri Demarquette

The French cellist Henri Demarquette has had an international career, often focusing on contemporary works as a soloist while playing a wide range of music in chamber groups. Demarquette was born in 1970 and could be called a prodigy. By the time he was 13 he had already entered the Paris Conservatoire, and he began concertizing the following year. His teachers in Paris were Philippe Muller and Maurice Gendron. Winning first prize by unanimous jury decision, he continued his studies with top-level players Pierre Fournier and Paul Tortelier, also traveling to the U.S. for studies with Janos Starker at the University of Indiana. Demarquette gave various concerts even in his mid-teens and made his official debut at 17 with a recital at the Théâtre du Chatelet. Soon after that, a duet recital with pianist Hélène Grimaud was broadcast on the France 3 radio network. These performances brought Demarquette to the attention of violinist/conductor Yehudi Menuhin, who invited him to perform the Dvorak cello concerto in two concerts under his own baton. From there, Demarquette was launched on a solo career that has included performances not only with orchestras around France but also the Sinfonia Varsovia in Poland, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Symphony, among many others. As a chamber musician, Demarquette has been active in his own Demarquette Trio and in a string quartet with Augustin Dumay, Svetlin Roussev, and Miguel de Silva, and with duet partners Boris Berezovsky, Vanessa Benelli Mosell, Fabrizio Chiovetta, Jean-Bernard Pommier, and Michel Dalberto. Another duet partner has been French accordionist Richard Galliano, with whom he has performed music from Bach to the present, including a concerto by Galliano for cello, accordion, and orchestra. Demarquette has given the premieres of many contemporary works and was part of a well-publicized 2006 performance on the occasion of Henri Dutilleux’s 90th birthday. Much of Demarquette’s recording catalog has appeared on the Timpani label; he also recorded the Cello Concerto of Michel Legrand for Sony Classical in 2017. In 2018, Demarquette released the album Portrait with Orchestra, featuring works by Jacques Ibert, Philippe Gaubert, Florent Schmitt, Gabriel Fauré, Jean Cras, and Guy Ropartz. ~ James Manheim