A new project : establishing a link between Gardens and Music a dream that will become a reality in 2012
For William Christie, his gardens in Thiré and Les Arts Florissants have always been part of the same creative endeavor, inspired by his passion for the 17th and18th centuries – the Baroque period. In horticulture just as in music, his approach doesn’t simply aim at reproducing the past, but at revealing the spirit and vitality of the period, reinventing it for today’s world.
William Christie would like to bring Thiré and Les Arts Florissants closer together and establish a unique centre for music and creativity in his ‘Arcadia’ in the Vendée. His vision is to create a supportive and intimate environment where musicians from all over the world (France, Europe, USA…) will gather – particularly so for the young generation of artists –, having their work shared with and appreciated by a vast public.
It is in order to unite his two passions that W. Christie is nowadays working with Les Arts Florissants on the conception of an international meeting/exchange environment that will offer musical encounters (particularly masterclasses and concerts) in the exceptional setting of his gardens. Legal studies (that might lead to the creation of an endowment fund or of a Foundation) and research for the necessary financial resources are, as you read this passage, being undertaken.
In the meantime and to begin with, as soon as 2012, several masterclasses followed by two outdoor concerts (in William Christie’s gardens in Thiré), performed by young European and American artists, will take place at the end of the Summer.
If you would like to be among the first to know about this project, please write to contact@arts-florissants.com.
The landscape surrounding the village of Thiré in the south of the Vendée gives no clues to the beauty and pleasures that await behind the garden-door of Le Batiment. The house, which dates from the early 17th century, is the home of Franco-American conductor and baroque music specialist, William Christie. Twenty years ago, the house was a ruin and the garden a bare field.
Since then, Christie has restored the house and created gardens which have become world-renowned.
The lack of gardens gave William Christie a blank canvas from which to create, from scratch, a garden inspired by Italian and French gardens of the 'grand siecle', a period dear to him. Entirely orchestrated by William Christie, the Jardin du Bâtiment has been permanently evolving since its creation and continues to grow and develop. The place has become a haven of beauty and of pleasure. A 'jardin remarkable' since 2004, the Jardin du Bâtiment was listed as an Historic Monument in 2006.
William Christie has generously opened his garden to visitors and this website provides a glimpse of the delights that await garden-lovers.