Michel Cerutti
Percussionniste
Born in 1950, Michel Cerutti graduated with highest honors in piano and chamber music at the Conservatoire National de Région de Metz. He decided to focus on percussion and pursued his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he again graduated with highest honors. He performed with the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen, and in 1976 joined the Ensemble intercontemporain.
Michel Cerutti is regularly invited to perform as cymbalum soloist for works by composers such as György Kurtág and Igor Stravinsky, as well as for Eclat/Multiples and Répons by Pierre Boulez. His soloist work also spans premieres of works by Philippe Schœller (Cosmos, Ganesha), Michael Jarrell (Rhizomes) and Peter Eötvös (Triangel, Festival Musica de Strasbourg 2001). Michel Cerutti teaches at the Conservatoire de Paris. He has led master classes at the Centre Acanthes, in New York and in Canada. He participates in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra integration program conducted by Claudio Abbado. In 1999, he conducted Festin, for orchestra and percussions, composed by Yan Maresz for the Académie Européenne de Musique d’Aix-en-Provence. Since September 2004, Michel Cerutti has been conducting a percussion ensemble made up of students from the Lucerne Academy.