Les Apaches !

Apaches! Apaches?
Who are these Apaches we see on stage?
Their genealogy goes back to Ravel and the circle of artists, friends and music lovers who gathered around him on the eve of the First World War. A boisterous cenacle whose members were once called ‘apaches’, bad boys, as they left a café.
This band, made up of musicians, poets and conductors, met every week in each other’s homes to share their work. It was an artistic celebration of intertwined visions, where the layering of genres stood for structure. Delage, Viñes, Fargue, Klingsor and Inghelbrecht… all different, yet all Apaches, united then dissolved in the night of war.

A century later, man has walked on the moon, the phenomenon of musical amplification exists and the spirit of the Apaches has been resurrected. But where are they to be found today? In Paris, in their Belleville neighbourhood? No, all across France. Under the impetus of Julien Masmondet, the new movement, as much a tribute as a continuation, has set itself the ambition of presenting multidisciplinary shows in ad hoc configurations.
Depending on the format, in the pit or on stage, up to thirty musicians, experienced in contemporary music, chamber musicians, all soloists, combine the suppleness of youth with the experience of years. And behind the scores, these new Apaches of the 21st century have teamed up with established composers as well as young talents representing varied aesthetics.
This resurrection took place at the Athénée in 2018, where the new Apaches presented a production of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti alongside an opera composed for the occasion by Pascal Zavaro, Manga Café. Two years later, still in Louis Jouvet’s former temple, walking the bridge that links music to the other arts, the new group launched itself on the world with a manifesto concert celebrating the Apaches’ repertoire, both past and present.

Since then, their shows have focused on what makes our society tick. For example, in Ça vous dérange? composers have carte blanche to take part in an immersive stroll, complete with sound debate, in response to the 2021 vote on a law to protect the sensory heritage of the countryside. It’s also the ambitious Street Art, a dialogue between a free-runner and a dancer-acrobat to music by Steve Reich and three associated composers. The future is made of the infinite possibilities afforded by the different components of live performance, be they technological or artisanal, amplified or not, be it comedy, music, vocality, dance or literature.
So, meet the Apaches, and their commitment to bringing all the arts together on one stage.

Guillaume Tion

Photos © Quentin Chevrier