Project Info
Project Description
Thomas Dunford, Lute
Born in Paris in 1988, Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at the age of 9 thanks to Claire Antonini, his first teacher. He finished his studies in 2006 at the Conservatoire de Paris (CRR), where he won a first prize unanimously in the class of Charles-Edouard Fantin. Thomas Dunford continues his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith, and participates in many master classes with lutenists such as Rolf Lislevand and Julian Bream, and at workshops with Eugène Ferré, Paul O’Dette, Pascale Boquet, Benjamin Perrot and Eduardo Eguez. He graduated in 2009.From September 2003 to January 2005, Thomas made his debut playing the role of lutenist in Shakespeare’s Night of the Kings on the stage of the Comédie Française. Since then, Thomas has given recitals at Carnegie Hall and the Frick Collection in New York, at Wigmore Hall in London, at the Washington Kennedy Center, at the Vancouver Recital Society, at Cal Performances at Berkeley, at the Banff Center, at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. , at the festivals of Saintes, Utrecht, Maguelone, Froville, TAP Poitiers, Cologne WDR, Radio France Montpellier, Saffron Hall. He appears regularly as a soloist or ensemble in the most prestigious European festivals such as Ambronay, Arques Battle, Bozar, La Chaise-Dieu, Nantes, Saintes, Utrecht, and others. He also plays in England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Norway, Belgium,
His first solo CD Lachrimae for the critically acclaimed French label Alpha in 2012 was awarded the 2013 Caecilia Award, BBC Magazine calling him the “Eric Clapton Lute”. His second CD “Labirinto d’Amore” was awarded the “Shock” by Classica.
His important discography includes music by John Dowland with Jeni Melia and Christopher Goodwin. Four recordings with La Cappella Mediterranea: a CD dedicated to Barbara Strozzi, Il Diluvio Universale and Nabucco by Falvetti as well as a work by Zamponi, two CDs of works by Farina and Romero with Clematis, violin sonatas with Monica Huggett; two CDs with Julien Léonard: Forqueray and Dowland; Vivaldi with Nicola Benedetti; three Vivaldi CDs with La Serenissima; three CDs with A 2 Violes Esgales: Bacilly, Ferrabosco and Marais; Praetorius with Capriccio Stravagante; four CDs by Zelenka, Fasch, tunes for bassoon and Haendel with Marsyas; six recordings with Arcangelo including Guadani tunes with contretener Iestyn Davies, Handel tunes with Chris Perves, soprano tunes with Anna Prohaska, Monteverdi madrigals, Couperin’s Lessons of Darkness, Charpentier’s Lessons of Darkness, The Royal Concerts of Couperin; Mass in Si and Trauerode of Bach with Pygmalion; Geoffroy with the harpsichordist Aurélien Delage; baroque and jazz tunes with soprano Jody Pou; Dowland with contretener Jean-Michel Fumas; the composer Renaissance Attaingnant with Pierre Gallon; an English manuscript with Fantastic Holy Folly; a Dowland duo CD with Iestyn Davies; the 17th Italian directory for cornet with La Fenice; three CDs with Les Arts Florissants: two CDs from Les Airs de Lambert, the 7th book of Madrigaux by Monteverdi; suites for Bach flute with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, Purcell and Charpentier with Chantal Santon; the sixth madrigal book of Gesualdo with Philippe Herreweghe. suites for Bach flute with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, Purcell and Charpentier with Chantal Santon; the sixth madrigal book of Gesualdo with Philippe Herreweghe. suites for Bach flute with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, Purcell and Charpentier with Chantal Santon; the sixth madrigal book of Gesualdo with Philippe Herreweghe.
Thomas Dunford is regularly invited to play with the ensembles A 2 Violes Esgales, Les Arts Florissants, Akademia, Amarillis, Les Ambassadeurs, Arcangelo, The Cappella Mediterranea, Capriccio Stravagante, The Baroque Music Center of Versailles, The Rhenish Chapel, Clematis, Collegium Vocale Gent, The Spiritual Concert, The Astrea Concert, The English Concert, The Baroque Ensemble of Limoges, La Fenice, The Folies Françoises, The Irish Baroque Orchestra, Marsyas, The Musicians of the Louvre, The Musicians of Paradise, The Musicians Saint-Julien, The Shadows, Pierre Robert, Pygmalion, The Fantastic Fantastic Madness, Scherzi Musicali, The Serenissima, The Siècles, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Symphony of the Marais …
Thomas Dunford is attracted by a wide variety of musical genres, including jazz, and collaborates in chamber music projects with conductors and soloists Paul Agnew, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Nicola Benedetti, Keyvan Chemirani, Chris Christie, Jonathan Cohen, Christophe Coin, Iestyn Davies, Lea Desandre, Isabelle Faust, Bobby McFerrin, Philippe Herreweghe, Monica Huggett, Alexis Kosenko, Francois Lazarevich, Anne-Sophie von Otter, Trevor Pinnock, Patricia Petibon, Sandrine Piau, Anna Prohaska, Hugo Reyne, Anna Reinhold, Jean Rondeau, Skip Sempé, Jean Tubéry …
For more information, please visit his website: