David Louwerse, François Daudet

The talents of cellist David Louwerse range from standard repertory to contemporary chamber music and even to tango. He is a member of the contemporary music-oriented Ensemble Variances. Louwerse was born in France to parents of Dutch and English ancestry. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, where he graduated with several first prizes. Louwerse went on to the Yale School of Music in Connecticut in the U.S., where he earned the Lucy G. Moses Fellowship Awards. For many years, he has been a member of Ensemble Variances, working with that ensemble's director, composer Thierry Pécou; the two have performed together with Picou on piano for some three decades. In 2012, Louwerse made his recording debut with Ensemble Variances on the album Thierry Pécou: Tremendum. He is the ensemble's lead cellist. Louwerse has a long list of other chamber music collaborators, including pianists François Daudet and Frédéric Vaysee-Knitter, violinists Virginie Robilliard and Liana Gourdjia, violist Vinciane Béranger, double bassist Laurène Durantel, flutist Anne Cartel, clarinetist Carjez Gerretsen, and saxophonist Nicolas Prost. He also often performs with bandoneonist Guillaume Hodeau in concerts that combine Baroque works with tango music. He also appears as a soloist. Between these varied activities, Louwerse has appeared in top venues and at major festivals in various regions. In France, these include the Metz Arsenal, the Maison de Radio France in Paris, and the Opéra de Lyon. His North American appearances include those at the Salle Bourgie in Montreal, Bargemusic in New York, and the Ferst Center for the Arts. Louwerse has also appeared in other European cities and farther afield in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. In 2016, Louwerse appeared with Ensemble Variances and several other groups on the album Thierry Picou: Les Liaisons Magnétiques. In 2018, he joined Daudet on an album of works by Pärt, Bridge, and Britten on the Indesens label, and in 2022, he backed Béranger on the album Rebecca Clarke: Works for viola. Louwerse is the artistic director of the Ault en Musique festival held annually in the Baie de Somme region in northern France.
© James Manheim /TiVo