Programme
- Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
- Passacaglia and Thema fugatum in C minor BWV 582
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- Choral prelude "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele" BWV 654
- (from "The Great Eighteen: Bach's Leipzig Chorales")
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- Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 29 "Wir danken dir, Gott"
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- César FRANCK (1822-1890)
- Variations Symphoniques en fa dièse mineur pour piano et orchestre
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Biography
- Born in 1979 in Liège, Titular organist at Notre-Dame de Chartres since 2022 and at Notre-Dame de Vincennes since 2010, he is professor of organ at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental de Chartres, at the Conservatoire de Melun and professor of harpsichord at the Conservatoire de Sens. He began his musical studies at the Chênée Music Academy at the age of 9. In 1998, he entered the organ class at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Liège. In 2001 he won the First Prize for organ as well as the First Prizes for Practical Harmony, Written Harmony and the Final Certificate for Sight Reading and Transposition and that of Musical Analysis. He also obtained a Second Prize for Counterpoint at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels in the class of Jean-Luc Balthazar. In 2003 he won the Premier Prix de Perfectionnement at the National Regional Conservatory of Lyon in the organ class of Louis Robilliard as well as the higher organ diploma with great distinction in the class of Anne Froidebise. He has won several international competitions. But he decided not to get specialised in any particular field of music history; thus the public can hear him play ancient music and works from 20th century, than naturally switch to Johann Sebastian Bach and also play romantic works. For this reason he is invited to play at various types of festivals : the Spa ‘music autumn’, the International Festival in Roquevaire (France), Oiva (Poland), "Toulouse les orgue", Alkmaar (Netherlands), Notre-Dame in Paris, the Liège Organ Festival… He is particularly passionate about J.S. Bach’s organ works, César Franck and Maurice Duruflé; he performed his complete works some years ag His most important aim is to make discover to his audience the works of J.S. Bach from the most different points of view. The second important point for him is improvisation: in his recitals as well as during the services, Jean-Luc Thellin is attributing an important part to improvisation, allowing him to gather the parish members, other auditors and the organist himself in a special atmosphere perceptible for everyone and thus creating a sort of communication while taking into account the present emotions. For this feature, he has taken advice from our times best improvisers, Firmin Decerf und Thierry Escaich, learning from their experience and putting new impulses into practice. In December 2007, at the commemoration of Louis Vierne’s 70th date of death he paid, in Notre-Dame in Paris, a profound tribute to the composer and organist, improvising in the master’s style the final movement of a symphony. In 2010, as a result of a previous competition, Jean-Luc Thellin, was appointed main organist on the Stolz-Organ in Notre-Dame Church in Vincennes. In 2018 he started working on a new recording of Bach’s complete organ works for Organroxx. In 2022 Jean-Luc Thellin recorded a 4cd set with the 12 large pieces for organ by Franck on the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Saint-Maurice church in Bécon-Courbevoie, supplemented by transcriptions for organ of the Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra and Symphony in D minor, both recorded on the great Schyven organ of the Liège Philharmonic Hall.
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