The project
Founded in 1989 by Christian Sebille and labeled as a national center for musical creation (CNCM) in 2006,
Césaré has been directed since November 2022 by Philippe Gordiani.
Located in Reims, in the heart of the Grand Est region, Césaré occupies a central position in the network of contemporary creation. As a driving force for local, regional, national, and international collaborations, the center supports the emergence of exploratory musical and sound works, at the intersection of aesthetics and artistic disciplines.
Throughout the year, Césaré hosts artists in residence in its creative spaces. Its three studios, interconnected by an audio and video patch, offer a modular, ergonomic environment with impeccable acoustic comfort. The largest of its studios regularly becomes a meeting place between artists and audiences: concerts, residency outputs, sound installations, and other open forms of artistic sharing.
Since 2022, Philippe Gordiani has proposed an artistic and cultural project focused on new spatialities of listening. Whether it is immersive sound installations, geolocalized creations with bone conduction headphones, augmented acoustics, or compositions designed for resonant architectures, Césaré tirelessly explores the spatial dimension of sound.
Led by an artist, Césaré aims primarily to be a home dedicated to artists.
Residencies, coproductions, delegated productions, commissions: all forms of support aimed at fostering research, creation, and dissemination of new sound and musical languages, and at assisting composers in the dramaturgy of emerging multidisciplinary formats.
The support for artists naturally goes through meetings with the audiences. Throughout the season, Césaré offers several highlights, in addition to the regular residency outputs. Electronic dreams highlight creative and experimental electronic music. faraway – a festival of the arts in Reims constitutes a major multidisciplinary event, bringing together seven cultural organizations from Reims around a common theme. Finally, the Festival in situ invites audiences to discover concerts, shows, and performances in a variety of places not dedicated to artistic creation. The unique listening situations proposed extend Césaré's artistic and cultural project, based on the exploration of new listening spaces and encounters between artists and audiences.
Meeting with the audiences also means awakening the curiosity of listening and encouraging artistic practice. Each year, Césaré develops numerous projects in artistic and cultural education, conducted in direct connection with the artists, in order to share the discovery of sound and music beyond concert and show times. Specific actions are also conducted around productions and delegated productions to share the processes and perspectives of ongoing creations.
Moreover, for several years, the TISICA project has explored artistic creation in the service of social and sensory connection, particularly for the elderly in nursing homes. Carried out in partnership with the CHU of Reims and university laboratories, it aims to stimulate the relationship with others and the self-confidence of participants through interactive technologies and sound, visual, and gestural workshops.
Whether it is to support artists in deepening their creations, exploring new spatialities of listening, or developing immersive sound systems like Sonobox, Césaré is engaged in an applied research program aimed at designing the necessary tools for its activities and questioning new digital lutheries.
Césaré - National Center for Musical Creation – Reims, is funded by the Ministry of Culture – DRAC Grand Est, the Grand Est Region, the City of Reims, and the Marne Department. It receives support from the Contemporary Music House (MMC), the National Office for Artistic Dissemination (Onda), and Sacem.
