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PÉNICAUD, Éric (France)
PÉNICAUD, Éric (France)
 Éric Pénicaud, composer and improviser. Éric Pénicaud is born in Casablanca in 1952. At the early age of seven, he starts studying guitar, with a main interest for flamenco. He then turns to jazz and, later on, to what is now called "ethnic music". He works with René Bartoli and attends master classes with Leo Brouwer, Abel Carlevaro, and Manolo Sanlucar, for flamenco. He performs in classical concerts, solo or with chamber music ensembles (Sacem, Semaine de Paris, and various festivals in Provence), as well as jazz (Châteauvallon) and flamenco concerts. But he is strongly attracted by composition. At the beginning, under the guidance of Stéphane Caplain-Saint-André, he studies the masters, both ancient and modern (Stravinsky, Messiaen and Ohana). Eight international prizes have crowned his compositions: from Martinique (1984-1988), from Japan (1987) and from Italy (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002). Éric Pénicaud's works are performed by guitarists such as Tania Chagnot, Arnaud Dumond and Roland Dyens; they are part of the repertoire of many conservatories and broadcasted both in France and abroad. Though definitely inspired from very diversified lines in his approach as a composer, he wants to go much beyond a mere combination of styles. It is a writing process whose homogeneity has earned him a aignificant reputation. Éric Pénicaud composes and teaches in Provence, a region he loves for its calm and the beauty of its landscape. In his writing, he wants to free the guitar from the musical niches in which it is often held captive as well as ensure its presence in the very core of today's and tomorrow's music. He also wants to promote the integration of the guitar into chamber music. In the light of all this, Éric Pénicaud's works are precious assets in the Productions d'OZ present collection. His works are recorded on three CDs with prefaces by Leo Brouwer, Larry Coryell, Arnaud Dumond, and Alberto Ponce. Critics, in France and abroad, have enthusiastically greeted these CDs. Before being published by the Productions d'OZ, Éric Pénicaud has seen more than twenty of his works published by important companies.
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