Bruno Helstroffer
Classical then electric guitarist, self-taught theorbo and ancient music, soloist and accompanist, performer and composer, Bruno Helstroffer is called upon as a performer by the most renowned baroque orchestras and chamber ensembles. With these he performs around the world, in theaters and on the radio, and makes around thirty discographic recordings, some of which have won critical acclaim, under the baton of conductors such as Hervé Niquet, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon and the Philharmonic Orchestra. from Radio France, Vincent Dumestre, Alexis Kossenko, Raphaël Pichon, François Lazarevitch, Les Lunaisiens etc...
Detached from the orchestra, he accompanies in “progressive baroque” recitals solo singers such as Phillipe Jaroussky, Dominique Visse, Chantal Santon, David DQ Lee, Guillemette Laurens within whom the border between old and new music becomes porous.
At the same time, he is involved in contemporary music (My Way to Hell and Songbook by Matteo Franceschini), in performing arts and particularly in theatre: “Rêves” (Nicolas Liautard/Wajdi Mouawad – 2003/Scène Watteau), “Les Seasons” (Irène Jacob, Marianne Piketty, Carl Norac – Ranelagh 2015), “Phèdres” (Krzysztof Warlikowski/Isabelle Huppert – Odéon 2016), and “If the Storm hears us” (duet Phillipe Jarrousky/Bruno Helstroffer – JFSpricigo/ 104 Paris 2020).
He also works for contemporary dance (Malgorzata Haduch, Mourad Merzouki), accompanies popular singers and participates in multidisciplinary artistic performances (poets, circus artists, puppets) on stage and in the cinema; in “Le pont des arts” by Eugène Green (2004) and in the Franco-Canadian series “Versailles” on Canal + (2015).
For Love I Obey, he invites folk singer Rosemary Standley (Moriarty) within his own ensemble to develop a phantasmagorical program based on 17th century English ballads and traditional American folksongs. Disc Alpha-Outhere 2015 which obtains as a reward the 4f of Télérama.
Combining compositions, improvisations, and repertoire pieces, his theorbo solo has been appreciated in France at early music festivals (Concerts Parisiens, Bruges, Saintes, Trégor...) as well as on the popular stage (Trianon de Paris, café dance) and abroad (Austria, Poland, Germany, Romania, Denmark...). The program was released in 2018 on CD and vinyl on the Outhere - Alpha label under the name "Calling the muse, old and new pieces for theorbo" and won the award; 5 tuning forks, by the eponymous magazine.
The fusion of languages he approaches becomes an original musical identity which regularly leads him to perform and record with jazzmen (Michel Godard & Steve Swallow, David Chevallier, Jean-Louis Matinier, Jasser Haj Youssef, Joël Grare...) contemporary composers (M.Franceschini, T.Machuel, Y.Bessières...) or pop artists (Sapho, Moriarty...).
At the border of musical styles, he thus marks his desire to skilfully combine his multiple experiences and offers communication between genres and artists from different backgrounds.