Thomas Bloch  ondes Martenot

Born in 1962 in Colmar, France, Thomas Bloch is acknowledged as one of the leading specialists in the instruments he plays: the ondes Martenot, glass harmonica and crystal Baschet. He has given over 2,500 performances in 40 countries and participated in more than 80 recordings, ranging from classical and contemporary music to songs, jazz, rock, theatre music, film music and ballet music—sometimes as the interpreter, at other times as the composer. He gives 10 to 15 premieres of music by contemporary composers each year.

Thomas Bloch has appeared in the soundtracks of such movies as Milos Forman’s Amadeus (2001 version), Vampires and March of the Penguins (Academy Award winner, Best Documentary, 2005). He has performed with the British rock band Radiohead and on tour in some 200 concerts with Tom Waits, Bob Wilson and Marianne Faithfull in The Black Rider.

He has worked with Andras Adorjan, Pierre-Yves Artaud, Philippe Bernold, Maurice Bourgue, John Cage, Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Coletti, Lindsay Cooper, Manu Dibango, Mark Drobinski, Jacques Dupriez, Lara Fabian, Fred Frith, Jean Fournet, Jean-Claude Gerard, Ingo Goritzki, Marc Grauwels, Manfred Henkel, Manfred Honeck, Isabelle Huppert, Marcel Landowski, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Vanessa Paradis, Michel Plasson, Sally Potter, Fernand Quattrocchi, Michel Redolfi, Dennis Russell-Davies, Paul Sacher, François Salque, Philippe Sarde, Jean Sulem, Arturo Tamayo, Ransom Wilson, Antoni Wit, Arthur H. Zazie and Jean-Francois Zygel.

He has performed at La Scala Milan, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw (for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra centenary) and in Bogota, Bonn, Boston, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Montreal, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Prague, San Francisco, Stockholm, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Festivals include Kuhmo, Pablo Casals and Lucerne.

Thomas Bloch has taught ondes Martenot at the Strasbourg Conservatoire since 1992. He is responsible for displaying rare instruments at the Musée de la Musique in Paris and is music director of such festivals as Evian, Marbach Abbey, Cité de la Musique (Paris) and Glass Music International.

Mr Bloch earned his Master’s Degree in Musicology at the University of Strasbourg. He received awards at the Colmar Conservatoire in Strasbourg and First Prize for ondes Martenot at the Paris Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique (with Jeanne Loriod). He won the “Classical Music Award 2002” at Midem in Cannes, the “Victoire de la Musique” and “Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros” for best soundtrack at the World Subaquatic Movies Festival in the Antibes, “Critics’ Choice” in Gramophone, “Best of the Year 2001” in Audiophile and “Choc” in Mondes de la Musique for his performances of Messiaen.

Thomas Bloch has recorded for Columbia, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Philips, RCA, Sony Classical, Toshiba and other companies. Since 1998 he has been under contract with Naxos and has recorded Music for Glass Harmonica, Music for ondes Martenot, Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphonie, Classical Chill, Classical Heat and Mozart: Life and Works. Naxos will soon release two new CDs: Varese’s Ecuatorial and his own composition, Missa Cantate for counter tenor (Jörg Waschinski) and symphony orchestra, which has been used in TV and radio programs and was a best seller on his own label in several countries.