uNopia is a collective bringing together several young artists from diverse backgrounds. The fruit of musical meetings between artists rich in different experiences and artistic back-grounds but sharing one passion, the uNopia project sets out to offer classical music in all its richness to the European public. With the objective of realising this project and offering quality, original concerts, uNopia is currently mobilising numerous artists across Europe.
Guilhem Fabre
pianist and artistic director
Guilhem’s passion for travelling and sharing music led him to dream up this adventure, uNopia, which he hopes will bring together the artists he loves and admires. The young pianist has led an original career. After he graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris and the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow, he has devoted himself to pursuing a solo career in France, Marocco, Turkey, Taïwan, Lebanon, Russia and elsewhere. In addition to performing solo, Guilhem is involved in ensembles and original shows with Olivier Py and others.
Sophie Aupied Vallin
accordion
An innovative accordionist, Sophie champions a modern style and repertoire and knows how to give the “classic” accordion a new sound. She studies with Max Bonnay at the Conservatoire de Paris. Sophie’s renditions of baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary pieces as well as tango music allow her to display today’s accordion. She is the winner of several competi-tions, including notably the Zonta “Young Talent Prize” in 2017.
Johanne Cassar
soprano
Johanne is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Conservatoire de Paris, and the University of Provence (Master of Letters and Arts). Winner of the “Muses of the Opera of Nice” competition, she has performed a broad repertoire as a soloist – from baroque to contemporary – and explores the possibilities of musical crossings, especially with Eastern music. Keen on musical exchanges, she discovered Russia during a recital with Guilhem Fabre in Kazan and dreams of seeing the uNopia project succeed
Philippe Girard
actor
A pupil of Antoine Vitez at the Chaillot School (1983-1986), he played under his direction in Victor Hugo’s Hernani and Lucrèce Borgia, but also in the mythical staging of Claudel’s Soulier de Satin in 1987.
He has played Shakespeare, Molière, Claudel, Kleist, Seneca, Aeschylus, Corneille, Labiche, Chekhov, Goethe, Pirandello, Gogol, Audureau, Sarraute, Bond, Kwahulé, under the direction of Alain Olivier, Bruno Bayen, Pierre Barrat, Pierre Vial, Benoit Lambert, Sylvain Maurice, Georgio Corsetti, Thibaut Rossigneux… With Stephane Braunschweig he spends five years at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, exploring with him the great plays of Ibsen, Peer Gynt, Brand, Maison de Poupée, and also Wedekind, Franziska and Lulu.
He has been working with Olivier Py for more than twenty years and has acted in almost all of his productions, The Handmaid, The Face of Orpheus, The Joyful Apocalypse, The Comic Illusions, The Comic Illusions, The Orestie, Orlando, King Lear, The Parisians, Satin’s Shoe…
He has been seen in films directed by JP Rappeneau, Pierre Salvador, JP Rouve, Jacques Maillot, JP Jeunet, Luc Besson, Rachid Dhibou, Dominik Moli, Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss, Patricia Mazuy.
François Michonneau
actor & author
In 1992, François enters the music conservatory of Rochefort/mer where he studies music theory and accordion for ten years. In 2008, he joins the Florent school, where he takes lessons from Frédéric Haddou, Bruno Blairet, and Benoît Guibert. In 2011 he joined “La parade d’octave” to write and direct “Ce qu’on ne dit pas” and “On se mouille”. At the same time, he plays under the direction of Xavier Bonadonna, “Les étoiles d’Arcadie” at the Théâtre du Soleil (Tremplin jeune talent), and Olivier Py, in “La jeune fille le diable et le moulin”, “Orlando ou l’impatience” and “Les Parisiens”.
It was on this last occasion that he met Guilhem Fabre.
Olivier Marin
Olivier is an eclectic musician who has embarked on a path of performer-creator thanks to encounters with multi-instrumentalist and composer Garth Knox and Ibrahim Maalouf. He regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician in music festivals around the world, including Ensemble Kamaan. His latest composition, Undō, for viola, electronics and video has been selected and performed at the International Congress of Alto (NL) and in many festivals in Montreal (CA), New York (USA) and Staffordshire (UK). Olivier will be in residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris from July to December 2019. uNopia is one of the projects he enjoys promoting.
violist & composer
Sarah Margaine
piano
Sarah is a pianist with atypical affinities. Passionate about different musical styles (Indian, Balkan, Irish, Argentinian, …), she regularly performs as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles, and in troupes. Regardless of the setting, Sarah takes care to offer original, varied programmes that sometimes combine different art forms such as dance or theatre with music. In 2016, she began her postgraduate performance artist diploma at the Conservatoire de Paris under Frank Braley. She received a prize from the Fondation Banque Populaire in the same year.
Guilhem Fabre
pianist and artistic director
Guilhem’s passion for travelling and sharing music led him to dream up this adventure, uNopia, which he hopes will bring together the artists he loves and admires. The young pianist has led an original career. After he graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris and the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow, he has devoted himself to pursuing a solo career in France, Marocco, Turkey, Taïwan, Lebanon, Russia and elsewhere. In addition to performing solo, Guilhem is involved in ensembles and original shows with Olivier Py and others.
Sophie Aupied Vallin
accordion
An innovative accordionist, Sophie champions a modern style and repertoire and knows how to give the “classic” accordion a new sound. She studies with Max Bonnay at the Conservatoire de Paris. Sophie’s renditions of baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary pieces as well as tango music allow her to display today’s accordion. She is the winner of several competi-tions, including notably the Zonta “Young Talent Prize” in 2017.
Johanne Cassar
soprano
Johanne is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Conservatoire de Paris, and the University of Provence (Master of Letters and Arts). Winner of the “Muses of the Opera of Nice” competition, she has performed a broad repertoire as a soloist – from baroque to contemporary – and explores the possibilities of musical crossings, especially with Eastern music. Keen on musical exchanges, she discovered Russia during a recital with Guilhem Fabre in Kazan and dreams of seeing the uNopia project succeed.
Philippe Girard
actor
A pupil of Antoine Vitez at the Chaillot School (1983-1986), he played under his direction in Victor Hugo’s Hernani and Lucrèce Borgia, but also in the mythical staging of Claudel’s Soulier de Satin in 1987.
He has played Shakespeare, Molière, Claudel, Kleist, Seneca, Aeschylus, Corneille, Labiche, Chekhov, Goethe, Pirandello, Gogol, Audureau, Sarraute, Bond, Kwahulé, under the direction of Alain Olivier, Bruno Bayen, Pierre Barrat, Pierre Vial, Benoit Lambert, Sylvain Maurice, Georgio Corsetti, Thibaut Rossigneux… With Stephane Braunschweig he spends five years at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, exploring with him the great plays of Ibsen, Peer Gynt, Brand, Maison de Poupée, and also Wedekind, Franziska and Lulu.
He has been working with Olivier Py for more than twenty years and has acted in almost all of his productions, The Handmaid, The Face of Orpheus, The Joyful Apocalypse, The Comic Illusions, The Comic Illusions, The Orestie, Orlando, King Lear, The Parisians, Satin’s Shoe…
He has been seen in films directed by JP Rappeneau, Pierre Salvador, JP Rouve, Jacques Maillot, JP Jeunet, Luc Besson, Rachid Dhibou, Dominik Moli, Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss, Patricia Mazuy.
François Michonneau
actor & author
In 1992, François enters the music conservatory of Rochefort/mer where he studies music theory and accordion for ten years. In 2008, he joins the Florent school, where he takes lessons from Frédéric Haddou, Bruno Blairet, and Benoît Guibert. In 2011 he joined “La parade d’octave” to write and direct “Ce qu’on ne dit pas” and “On se mouille”. At the same time, he plays under the direction of Xavier Bonadonna, “Les étoiles d’Arcadie” at the Théâtre du Soleil (Tremplin jeune talent), and Olivier Py, in “La jeune fille le diable et le moulin”, “Orlando ou l’impatience” and “Les Parisiens”.
It was on this last occasion that he met Guilhem Fabre.
Olivier Marin
viola
A 28-year-old violist, he won first prize in the international competition Gérardmer-Kichompré. In addition to classical music, Olivier has always developed original partnerships. For the past seven years, he has taken to improvisation thanks to enthralling meetings with musicians like Ibrahim Maalouf and Garth Knox. In Montreal, where he lives and perfects his technique, he joined different ensembles such as the electroacoustic ensemble Iléa and the Iranian music ensemble Kaaman.
Sarah Margaine
piano
Sarah is a pianist with atypical affinities. Passionate about different musical styles (Indian, Balkan, Irish, Argentinian, …), she regularly performs as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles, and in troupes. Regardless of the setting, Sarah takes care to offer original, varied programmes that sometimes combine different art forms such as dance or theatre with music. In 2016, she began her postgraduate performance artist diploma at the Conservatoire de Paris under Frank Braley. She received a prize from the Fondation Banque Populaire in the same year.
