Deborah Nemtanu
Born into a family of passionate musicians, Deborah Nemtanu chose to take up the violin at the age of four. Her career is synonymous with precocious success and diversity of talent.

After winning a Premier Prix à l’unanimité at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 2001 (class of Gérard Poulet), she soon found her talent meeting with international recognition.

Since 2005 she has been leader (violon solo super soliste) of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, to which she was appointed by unanimous decision of the jury. Curious and passionate in her approach, Deborah Nemtanu has gone even further by directing the orchestra and thus giving the concerto a genuine spirit of chamber music. She has performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She has also multiplied fruitful musical encounters in concert series and festivals – including La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo – with such artists as Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Stephen Kovacevich, François Leleux, Emmanuel Pahud, and Jian Wang.

Deborah Nemtanu plays a violin by Domenico Montagnana dating from 1740-1745, acquired and generously made available by Monceau Assurances, which is also the orchestra’s patron. She has also benefited from the kind loan by M. Philippe Faure of a violin by Nicola Gagliano.

La Symphonie de Poche (Pocket Symphony)
was founded in 2013 by Nicolas Simon. He and Lucas Henri, the ensemble’s arranger from the outset, decided on the final choice of instruments in 2015 around the accordion, which is the ensemble’s cornerstone: a string quintet, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet and baritone saxhorn are flanked by the resonance of a harp and a marimba.

The ensemble’s bold spirit and original colours led them into many and varied projects : Eh bien, dansez maintenant… with violiniste Deborah Nemtanu ; Le parti d’en rire and Boris Vian, écumeur de nuit with actor-singer Arnaud Marzorati ; Bourvil 100 ans with actor-singer Emmanuel Pleintel ; Le Ring de Poche with director Édouard Signolet and illustrator Cécile Pruvot ; Songs with mezzo Adèle Charvet ; Beethoven si tu nous entends…, a symphonic tribute written by Robin Melchior, one of La Symphonie de Poche’s principal composer-arrangers.

The quality and relevance of these programmes have earned La Symphonie de Poche a place in France’s musical landscape, with performances at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse in Soissons, The Limoges Opera, Lille’s Nouveau Siècle hall, the Théâtre de Sartrouville, Le Havre’s Théâtre de l’Hôtel de Ville, the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Concert Hall, the Bal Blomet in Paris, the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, the Bateau-Feu in Dunkerque, and the Théâtre de Cornouaille National Theatre in Quimper, amongst others.

La Symphonie de Poche receives support from its principal sponsor, the Caisse des Dépôts.

Nicolas Simon
Main conductor of the Orchestre de Caen, founder, artistic and musical director of La Symphonie de Poche and the Philharmonicoeur, musical director of the Yellow Socks Orchestra, associate conductor of Les Siècles orchestra, leader of the Démos project, Nicolas Simon is a conductor who “passes the baton”. He is constantly striving to renew the close ties between performers, composers and audiences.

Nicolas Simon is a much-appreciated member of the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lorraine, the Orchestre de Picardie, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Orchestre de Chambre de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National de Metz, the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse; and abroad, with the London Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Sinfonie Orchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra and the Palestine Youth Orchestra.

On the operatic stage, he has conducted La Dame Blanche in Rennes, Compiègne, Quimper, Tourcoing, Dunkerque, Besançon and Saint-Céré. Zaïde in Rennes, Nantes, Quimper, Besançon and Pelléas et Mélisande in Caen.