Florentino CALVO studied music at the National Music and Ballet School of Argenteuil, a very renowned place of mandolin teaching in France. He was awarded a first prize in the mandolin class of his teacher Mario Monti. In the same school, he studied the guitar in master Alberto Ponce?s class as well as analysis and harmony in Gerard Gastanie?s class.
He gives regular performances with the ?Orchestre du Theatre National de l?Opera de Paris? and with other prestigious orchestras such as the ?Ensemble Inter-Contemporain?, the ?Orchestre National de France?, the ?Orchestre de Paris?, the ?Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio-France?. He has also appeared with other groups or ensembles such as ?Ars Nova?, ?l?Itineraire?, ?Diabolicus?, Collegium Novum.
Co-founder member of the ?TrioPolycordes? with the harpist Isabelle Daups and the guitarist Jean-Marc Zvellenreuther, he has been devoting himself to the contemporary repertoire - he has benn offered works by Klaus Huber, Alexandros Markeas, Alain Louvier, Philippe Schoeller, Regis Campo, Frederick Martin, Ivan Bellocq, Francois Rosse, Francois Laurent, Christian Lauba, Zad Moultaka, Stephane Leach, Gilles Carre, Luis Naon, Carlo Carcano, Michele Reverdy, Alain-Michel Riou, Felix Ibarrondo, Vincent Beer-Demander, Anthony Girard, Jean-Christophe Rosaz, Philippe Festou, Aki Nakamura, ... He regularly appears as soloist, with orchestras, or with small groups of instrumentalists including Maurice Chancelade (piano), Sophie Teboul (piano). With the harpsichordist, Maria-Lucia Barros, he performs the original 18th century repertoire for mandolin and continuo on copies of period instruments. Since 2005, with Aline Zylberajch, he made up a duet enabling people to rediscover the existing original repertoire on copies of period instruments.
His interest in plucked stringed instruments and his encounters with different musicians or composers led him to play other instruments such as the mandola, the mandolocello, the bouzouki and the oud.
Since 1991, he has been directing the plectrum orchestra of the ?Estudiantina d?Argenteuil?.
Since 1995, beside Master Alberto Ponce, he has been supervising an international training course of mandolin within the Kruger Foundation (Mas de la Coume) at Mosset near Prades, in France.
His taste for meeting people and his eclecticism led him to work for the cinema or the theater.
For instance he took part in the creation of ?Momo? by Pascal Dusapin and directed by Andre Wilms for MT and went on different tours with them.Since 1988, he has been the titular teacher of the mandolin class at the National Music School of Argenteuil, and has just been appointed mandolin teacher at the ?Paris/Boulogne-Billancourt, University of Artistic Education".
To learn more about Calvo's discography:
https://ensemblemg21.wordpress.com http://www.dux.pl http://www.arion-music.com http://lafollia.com
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