William Dongois is a French brass player with a focus on the

cornett The cornett, cornetto, or zink is an early wind instrument that dates from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. It was used in what are now called alta capellas or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused wi ...

Life and career

Dongois was born in

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

(

Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of the ...

). After studying the trumpet at the conservatory in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, he worked as a teacher for this instrument. He also played in the orchestra of the conservatory and is a member of the orchestra of the Grand Théâtre of Reims. Through his practice as a brass player, he discovered the music of the 16th and 17th centuries. He deepened his knowledge of music history in the composition class. The combination of his experience in trumpet playing and his fondness for the repertoire of

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

then led him to his interest in the cornett. To learn the instrument he took courses with

Jean-Pierre Canihac Jean-Pierre Canihac is a French performer of early music and a founding member of ''Sacqueboutiers''. Soloist of international ensembles, he has performed under the baton of Jordi Savall, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Clemenci ...

and

Bruce Dickey Bruce Dickey is an American cornett player. He is regarded as the doyen of the modern generation of cornett players, many of whom were his students at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and Early Music Institute at Indiana University, or students of ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

. Under the direction of

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

, he extended his knowledge in ensemble conducting. Dongois played for recordings with orchestras such as

Hespèrion XXI Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Catalan musical director Jordi Savall (bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), his wife Montserrat ...

and

Concerto Palatino The Concerto Palatino was a wind ensemble and important civic institution in Bologna associated with San Petronio. The band performed morning and evening concerts in the city. The Concerto Palatino began in the 13th century as a group of eight tru ...

and with conductors such as

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orches ...

Andrew Parrott Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering "historically informed performances" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted th ...

Joshua Rifkin Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor, pianist, and musicologist; he is currently a professor of music at Boston University. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestre ...

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

and others. Until 1993, he was a member of the ensemble ''La Fenice'', with which he won first prizes at the music competitions for orchestras in Bruges (1990) and Malmö (1992). He is a guest performer with numerous orchestras and directs "Le Concert Brisé", the ensemble he founded in early 1992, with which he has recorded several CDs, including for the label. Since 2002, he has been leading the cornett class of the "Centre de Musique Ancienne" at the

Geneva University of Music The Geneva Haute école de musique (french: Haute école de musique de Genève HEM) is a higher music education institution in Geneva, Switzerland. Status The HEM is a public institution founded in 2009, but the school has its origin back to 1 ...

, and he also gives

masterclass Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...

es at several European music academies.Lebenslauf auf der Webseite des Le Concert Brisé
/ref>

Recordings

* ''Dulcis Memoria'', 1995. * ''Symphoniae sacrae II'', 1997. * ''Vesper for St. Michael's Day'', 1998. * ''Musique Transalpine'', 2002. * ''L'Àge D'or du Cornet À Bouquin'', 2007. * ''Stadtpfeifer · Waits · Ministriles · Piffari'', with Capella de la Torre, Coviello 2007. * Baldassare Vialardo: Missa ''Vestiva i colli''. With compositions around the madrigal ''Vestiva i colli'' by

Adriano Banchieri Adriano Banchieri (Bologna, 3 September 1568 – Bologna, 1634) was an Italian composer, music theorist, organist and poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He founded the Accademia dei Floridi in Bologna. Biography He wa ...

Giovanni Paolo Cima Giovanni Paolo Cima (c. 1570 – 1630) was an Italian composer and organist in the early Baroque era. He was a contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi, though not as well known (then or now) as either of those men. Cima ca ...

Ignazio Donati Ignazio Donati (c. 1570 – 21 January 1638) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was one of the pioneers of the style of the concertato motet. Biography Ignazio Donati was born in Casalmaggiore (now in the Province of Cremona ...

, Michelangelo Grancini,

Francesco Rognoni Francesco Rognoni fTaeggio (born in Milan second half of the 16th century – died after 1626) was an Italian composer. He was the son of Riccardo Rognoni and brother of Giovanni Domenico Rognoni Taeggio, both prominent Italian composers and mu ...

and Bartolomeo de Selma y Salaverde. Interpreten: Miriam Feuersinger (soprano),

Hans Jörg Mammel Hans Jörg Mammel (born in Stuttgart) is a German tenor in opera and concert. Mammel received first musical training as a member of the boys' choir Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben. After aborted legal studies, he studied at the Hochschule für M ...

(tenor), William Dongois (cornett; improvisation),

Musica Fiorita Musica Fiorita was an ensemble for baroque music founded in 1990 and based in Basel, which was conducted by the harpsichordist Daniela Dolci. The ensemble concentrated in particular on rediscovering unknown works by composers of the 17th and 18th ...

, Daniela Dolci (harpsichord, oragan and direction). Christophorus, 2015. (Missa von Vialardo als Ersteinspielung).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dongois, William French classical trumpeters Cornett players French recorder players French performers of early music French conductors (music) Conservatoire de Paris alumni Date of birth unknown Living people People from Langres Year of birth missing (living people)