Presentation file - United Nations Orchestra

Antoine Marguier, co-founder and Artistic Director
Martine Coppens, co-founder and President
Michael Møller,
Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva
Honorary President
Presentation – August 2015
+ 41 76 539 04 33
info@unorchestra.ch
www.unorchestra.ch
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The Orchestra in concert at Victoria Hall, Geneva
Supporting Humanitarian Causes through Music
Initially born as a showcase of International Geneva and mostly composed of musicians working in international
organizations, this orchestra is unique in that it supports, through music, those who have fallen victim to
humanitarian crises.

A charity orchestra which has raised more than CHF140,000 in its 4 years of existence, benefiting
organizations in the disaster relief, children’s welfare and education, and public health sectors

A symbolic bridge bringing together the international community and the residents of the city of Geneva
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Able to represent the United Nations at official occasions, summits, and conferences
Vision of the Orchestra

Strengthen the humanitarian commitments of the Orchestra by continuing to give charity concerts which
benefit organizations with a philanthropic mission
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Raise the profile of the Orchestra, both in Geneva and through tours abroad
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Enlarge the Orchestra to a symphonic size (80 musicians) and continue to attract excellent non-professional
musicians in order to offer more diverse repertoires (Today: 65 musicians)
Funding
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The Orchestra receives no funding or subsidy from the United Nations or other organizations, apart from the
provision of rehearsal space at UNAIDS and a subsidy from the City of Geneva for the use of the Victoria Hall
venue. After deducting operating expenses, the Orchestra donates the entirety of its ticket revenues to
charity.
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Funds are needed to gradually professionalize our administration, provided by volunteers until now
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Due to a number of free events and foreign tours in the coming season, we foresee a funding gap which we
aim to cover by private contributions via the “Association des Amis”.
The Orchestra’s Honorary President
Mr. Michael Møller, Director General of
the United Nations Office in Geneva
Upcoming concerts
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28 November 2015: Esplanade-du-Lac, Divonne-les-Bains, France
29 November 2015 : Victoria Hall, Geneva – Charity concert
Soloist : Camille Thomas, cello
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4 December 2015: Palais des Nations, Geneva
ICRC General Assembly

13 March 2016 : Victoria Hall, Geneva
Spring concert 5th anniversary of the
Orchestra – Charity concert.
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24 March 2016 to 03 April 2016
China Tour 5th anniversary of the Orchestra
Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Chengdu

26 November 2016 : Victoria Hall, Geneva
Charity Concert

25 March 2017: Victoria Hall, Geneva –
Charity concert
The Orchestra in concert at the Assembly Hall, Palais des Nations
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Past performances

20 March 2011, Inaugural Concert, Théâtre du Léman, Geneva. Audience of 1400.
CHF 6,000 collected in benefit of the victims of the tsunami in Japan
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19 June 2011: Summer Concert for the Fête de la Musique, Cour de l’Hôtel de Ville, Geneva
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14 December 2011: Welcoming Concert for Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director General of the United
Nations Office Geneva, Palais des Nations, Geneva
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16 March 2012: Spring Concert, Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 17,000 collected in benefit of the project “Education for all in Sierra Leone”
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27 March 2012: Closing concert of 6th Francophone Conference on HIV/AIDS, Saint‐Pierre Cathedral,
Geneva
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24 June 2012: Summer Concert for the Fête de la Musique, Victoria Hall, Geneva
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17 November 2012: Gala charity concert, Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 50,000 collected in benefit of UNICEF, organized by the Foundation La Joie des arts
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22 January 2013: Official celebration of the 50th anniversary of Elysée Treaty between France and
Germany, Palais des Nations, Geneva
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11 March: Montblanc / UNICEF Gala concert Signature for good, Kempinsky Hotel, Geneva
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14 and 20 March 2013: Spring Concerts, Esplanade du Lac, Divonne les Bains and Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 17,233 collected in benefit of the NGO “Graines de Paix“
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12 April 2013: Montblanc / UNICEF concert Signature for good, Hyatt Hotel, Zurich
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23 June 2013: Summer Concert for the Fête de la Musique, Victoria Hall, Geneva – Alessandra
Conunova, violin
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30 November 2013: Verdi Bicentenary gala concert, Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 11,526 collected in benefit of the NGO “PVA Genève” and to mark World AIDS Day
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21 March 2014, Spring Concert, Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 5,000 in benefit of the Society Biliki, Georgia.
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16 June 2014: 50th anniversary of UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, Geneva
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22 June 2014: Summer Concert for the Fête de la Musique, Victoria Hall, Geneva
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19 September 2014: 60th anniversary of CERN, Meyrin
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8 November 2014 : Mozart charity concert with Madrid Polytecnic University Choir, Victoria Hall, Geneva
CHF 15,000 collected in benefit of Bilifou Bilifou Association: Volunteer surgeans from Geneva acting in
Burkina Faso
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15 November 2014: with Madrid Polytecnic University Choir, Auditorio Nacional, Madrid, Spain
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Bicentenary Celebration of the Entry of Geneva in the Confédération Helvétique (GE200.ch)
“La Suisse en musique”
1 March 2015: Victoria Hall, Geneva
4 March 2015: Palais des Nations, Geneva
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13 June 2015 : Victoria Hall, Genève - 70th anniversary of the United Nations – Soloist : Khatia
Buniatishvili, piano
21’018 CHF collected for the benefit of UNHCR, Syrian refugees
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20 June 2015: Geneva, Victoria Hall - Summer concert for Fête de la Musique
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Charity concerts
Inaugural Concert
Théâtre du Léman, Geneva, 20 March
2011
Mr. Atsuyuki Oike,
Deputy Permanent
Representative of
Japan, and his wife
Attended by Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva
CHF 6,000 collected in benefit of the victims of the tsunami in Japan
Spring Voncert 2012
Victoria Hall, Geneva, 16 March 2012
Attended by Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director General of the
United Nations Office in Geneva
CHF 17,000 collected in benefit of
Education for All in Sierra Leone
UNICEF Gala concert : A Mozart Celebration
Victoria Hall, Geneva, 17 November 2012
Attended by Mr. K.J. Tokayev, Director General of the
United Nations Office in Geneva
CHF 50,000 collected in benefit of children suffering from
chronic malnutrition
Spring Concert 2013
Victoria Hall, Geneva, 20 March 2013
CHF 17,233 collected in benefit of the NGO
“Graines de Paix”
Mrs Martine Coppens, President and cofounder of
the United Nations Orchestra and Mrs Delia
Mamon, President of “Graines de Paix”
Mont Blanc / UNICEF Gala concert – Signature for good
Kempinsky Hotel, Geneva, 11 March 2013
Hyatt Hotel, Zurich, 12 April 2013
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Verdi Bicentenary Gala Concert to mark World AIDS Day
Victoria Hall, Geneva, 30 November 2013
CHF 11,526 collected in benefit of the NGO PVA Genève
Attended by Mr. Michael Møller, Director General of the United
Nations Office in Geneva and Honorary President of the Orchestra
Spring Concert 2014
CHF 5,000 collected in benefit of the Society Biliki,
Georgia
Attended by Mr. Michael Møller,
Acting Director General of the United Nations Office in
Geneva and
Mr. Shalva Tsiskarashvili,
Permanent Representative of Georgia
to the United Nations
November 2014
CHF 15,000 collected in benefit of Bilifou Bilifou Association:
Volunteer surgeons from Geneva acting in Burkina Faso
June 2015
70th anniversary of the United Nations Khatia Buniatishvili, piano.
21’018 CHF collected for the benefit of UNHCR, Syrian refugees
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Our musicians work in the following organisations:
ETU, IFRC, UNHCR, UNAIDS, CPM, UEP, WTO, ILO, WHO, UNCTAD, UNECE, ITU, OHCHR, WMO, OCHA,
CERN and UNOG.
Violins 1
Caroline Baeriswyl
Marguerite Hansen
Clara James
Ruben Leivas
Tanya Siraa
Marianne Dailcroix
Romane Theoleyre
Alexia André
Tara Brian
Jannis Fischer
Marcello Losasso
Pauline Chappuis
Mio Takaguchi
Edmond Basha
Matt Smith
Switzerland
USA
Netherlands
Spain
Netherlands
France
France
France
United Kingdom
Germany
Italia
Switzerland
Japan
Albania
USA
Violins 2
Veronica Pisani
Tamina Wicky
Carmen Hansen
Mark Shaw
Liam Keegan
Lena Krause
Sana de Courcelles
Mélanie Pagani
Kristina Povilaityte
Martina Buchelli
Katrine Sorensen
Mauricio Pinzon
Benoît de Courcelles
Italia
Switzerland
USA
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Switzerland – Japan
France
Switzerland
Latvia
Colombia
Danmark
Colombia
France
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Violas
Natanael Ferreira
François Kurz
Lucy Ellis
Missia Racine Freixenet
Yvan Poulin
Yves Ruhlmann
Paula Alvarez Lopez
Stéphanie Brook
David Oh
Brésil
Suisse
Royaume Uni
Suisse
Suisse
France
Espagne
Canada
Chine
Cellos
Ivan Tupinier
Amaryllis Roper
Jean-Pierre Sferruzza
Anne-Marie Deutschlander
Francesca Pittau
Judith Schwegler
Martine Buytaert-De Jode
Sonja Koeppel
Christian Lienhardt
Chung-won Lee
France
USA
France
USA – Germany
Italia
Germany
Belgium
Germany
France
China
Double basses
Farina Boardwell
Germany
Flutes
Mariana Cossermelli
Thomas Fabry
Brazil
Belgium
Oboes
Aurore Chauleur
Anne Dürr
France
Germany
Clarinets
Audrey Gambin
Richard Bourlet
France
United Kingdom
Bassoons
Aline Kalchofner
N.N
Switzerland
N.N
French Horns
Mario Ortega
Jane Haapiseva
John Woodall
Chelsea Middleton
Mexico
Canada
United Kingdom
USA
Trumpets
Takahiro Oguchi
Konstantin Kleine
Japan
Germany
Trombones
Alberto Oliva
Matej Mertik
Italia
Slovenia
Tuba
Delorme Guillaume
France
Timpani
Lamy-Chappuis Emilien
France
Percussions
Valentine Petit
Aurélie Stücki
France
Switzerland
Harps
Yilmaz Yasemin
Mattey Sarah
Switzerland
Switzerland
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Antoine Marguier
Co-founder and Artistic
Director
Antoine Marguier began his career under the
baton of Claudio Abbado, as a solo clarinet player
of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the
Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester. For seventeen
years, he was a member of the Orchestre de la
Suisse Romande (OSR), having been taken on at
the age of 22 by one of his future mentors, Armin
Jordan.
A former assistant to Jesus Lopez-Cobos at the
French Youth Orchestra, he studied orchestra
conducting with his mentor Roberto Benzi, David Zinman, James Levine and Kurt Masur.
Appointed after an international competition in 2010, Antoine Marguier held the post of Resident Head of the Orchestre
National de Lyon, which included the position of Artistic Director of the Academy (Lyon Youth Orchestra). During two
seasons, he guided more than thirty concerts with passion and energy, while also imparting with noticeable success
indispensable knowledge for his young musicians’ future.
Co-founder and Artistic Director of the United Nations Orchestra, Antoine Marguier has dedicated himself to this musical
and humanitarian adventure with a determination matching the noble cause of this concept.
He is also responsible for heading the CMgo (composed of professors and students of the Conservatoire de Musique de
Genève) and, in parallel, teaches Chamber Music at Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève.
Among other things, Antoine has guest conducted the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique et
Lyrique de Nancy, the Marseille Opera Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (French-speaking Switzerland), The
Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, the Niiza Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo and the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra of
Durban. He regularly works with the Sinfonietta of Lausanne, notably during a tour of China.
His charismatic personality, his innate sense of interpretation and his generosity towards the musicians and the public have
earned him the affection of everyone.
His most recent invitations include the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, the
Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carlo, the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest of Maastricht, the Orchestre d’Auvergne, the
Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Lamoureux, which immediately engaged him again after his début in
November 2011 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Prior to this, he had already left his imprint in Paris with Stravinsky’s
Story of a Soldier (staged by Omar Porras) at the helm of the Ensemble Contrechamps. 2014 includes his return
engagement to the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy.
Fully aware of the multidisciplinary character of the arts, Antoine Marguier is also at home in the orchestra pit; as the cofounder of the Compagnie du Rossignol along with Joan Mompart he brings together actors and soloists of the OSR. He
has conducted the creation of two operas by Robert Clerc and led the Ensemble Asko/Schönberg of Amsterdam for the
successful re-run of “The House of the Sleeping Beauties”, a creation of Kris Defoort produced by the Brussels Théâtre de la
Monnaie.
www.antoinemarguier.com
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Founders and Honorary President
Mrs. Martine Coppens, President and co-founder of the UN Orchestra
Mr. Antoine Marguier, Artistic director and co-founder of the UN Orchestra
Mr. Michael Møller, Director General of United Nations Office in Geneva, Honorary President of the UN Orchestra
The United Nations Orchestra was co-founded by Martine Coppens and Antoine Marguier, who put forward the original
idea.
The Orchestra “Online”

The Orchestra communicates in French and English with the online International community via a website
www.unorchestra.ch, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, as well as an active emailing list. Click on the icons
below to visit the pages.
http://www.facebook.com/unitednationsorchestra
http://www.twitter.com/unorchestra
https://www.youtube.com/user/UNOrchestraGeneva

Experience the energy of the Orchestra by viewing our
http://youtu.be/10tFqxsMWQc, filmed during the Fete de la Musique 2013.
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promotional
video
(6’33”)
Presse
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Contact
Orchestre des Nations Unies
Mme Martine Coppens, Présidente
+ 41 76 539 04 33
info@unorchestra.ch
www.unorchestra.ch
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