© Bernard Martinez
Vernet-Meckler Organ Duet
Europe (excl.France) & Sundry
Full Biography

Since 2006, the Vernet-Meckler Organ Duo has dazzled audiences across the world promoting the novel repertoire of four-hand music for the organ through brilliant performances and over numerous acclaimed recordings:

° Mozart’s complete organ works (awarded Choc du Monde de la Musique)

° Mendelssohn’s complete organ works (Diapason d’Or, 4 étoiles Monde de la Musique, 5/5 Hifi-  Video, Maestro Pianiste, CD of the year Audiophile Mélomane, “essential recording” according to Diapason for Mendelssohn bicentenary issue)

° A recital album in the cathedral of Tulle (Excellent disque Classica, 5/5 Hifi-Video, 4 étoiles Monde de la Musique), a Haydn programme (4 étoiles Monde de la Musique, La Clef ResMusica.com)

° Gade’s complete organ works (5 diapasons, excellent disque Classica)

° "Pasión" around Hispanic dances (CD of the year 2011 Orgelnieuws)

° Brahms' piano concertos in a world premiere transcription for eight hands with piano duet (« 6/6 PianoNews »)

° pieces especially written for organ duet on Cavaillé-Coll organ in Lunel (Excellent disque Classica, Disque presqu'idéal Musikzen)

° Merklin organ in Commentry, “BACH(s)” around the Bach dynasty, including numerous world premieres (Excellent disque Classica, The American Organist)

° “Le Rameau d’Olivier” focused on transcriptions by the duo of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s works on the historical organ of Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume (Coup de Coeur Classica, The American Organist)

° “Apprentis Sorciers” devoted to French symphonic music on the great organ of Monaco cathedral (Coup de Coeur Classica). These recordings are broadcasted in Europe and USA (France Musique, Europe 1, France Inter, Radio Classique, RCF, RTBF, RAI, American Public Media,…).

In addition to its concert activity (for example in Philharmonie de Paris, Mariinsky Theater in Saint-Petersburg, Moscow International Performing Arts Center, Maurice Ravel Auditorium in Lyon, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Salle Philharmonique in Liège, Festival Pablo Casals, Avignon Festival, Classique au Port in La Rochelle, Comminges, Les Riches Heures de la Réole, Printemps des Orgues in Angers, Toulouse-Les-Orgues, International Organ Festival of Saint-Louis-des-français de Rome, Andorre, Poblet, Monaco, Palma de Mallorca, Festival Bach of Chisinau in Moldova, Glasgow University, …), the duo devotes a large part of its activity to searching and developing organ duet repertoire. Some composers have dedicated pieces especially for them.

Olivier Vernet’s outstanding career has confirmed the hopes raised by the numerous awards he received over the course of his studies with Gaston Litaize at the Conservatoire National de Région in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Marie-Claire Alain at the Conservatoire National de Région in Rueil Malmaison, and Michel Chapuis in the class where he won first prize for organ at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. After unanimously being given the First Prize with honours at the international competition arranged by the U.F.A.M. in Paris in 1984, he won First Prize in 1991 at the International Organ Competition in Bordeaux. He has also received awards from the foundations of Aram Khachaturian, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet pour la Vocation, Marcelle and Robert de Lacour, and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. Renowned as one of the most brilliant representatives of the French school of organ music, he is enjoying an international career and being invited to perform at the most prestigious festivals.

He often takes the stage as a soloist with different orchestras (Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo with Marek Janowski, Lawrence Foster, Jean-Claude Casadessus, Kazuki Yamada; Orchestres de Metz with David Reiland, Picardie and Auvergne with Arie van Beek, Saint-Etienne with Laurent Campellone; Orchestre de Chambre de Lyon with Philippe Fournier; vocal ensemble Accentus with Laurence Equilbey; Ensemble Musicatreize with Roland Hayrabedian, …) and early music ensembles (Stradivaria with Daniel Cuiller; Ensemble Matheus with Jean-Christophe Spinosi; A Sei Voci with Bernard Fabre-Garrus; Elémens and Ensemble Jacques Moderne with Joël Suhubiette;  Lachrimæ Consort with Philippe Foulon; Simphonie du Marais with Hugo Reyne,…).

To date, Olivier Vernet has recorded 110 CDs, which have received distinguished awards including: the Diapason d’Or; the Choc du Monde de la Musique; and ffff from Télérama. Other awards include several 10 de Répertoire, Joker from Crescendo, and Recommandé by Classica. Five of the most sought-after honors have been bestowed on Mr. Vernet by the French language musical press: Le Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque for the complete works of Buxtehude, the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, the Grand Prix de l’Académie des Beaux-Arts, the 2000 Diapason d’Or for his complete works of Bach and the 2016 Choc Classica for his recording of Bruhns, Hanff and Kneller complete organ works. Olivier Vernet is the titular organist of the Cathedral of Monaco. As such, he played at the grand organ for the princely wedding in 2011. He teaches at the Académie de Musique Prince Rainier III in Monaco and at the Conservatoire National à Rayonnement Régional de Musique in Nice. He is the Artistic Director for the Monaco International Organ Festival and the Mougins Organ Festival. Olivier Vernet is Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de l’Ordre monégasque du Mérite Culturel.

Holder of a doctorate in Medicine (MD) and a doctorate in Neurosciences (PhD), Cédric Meckler was a medical officer, holding the rank of colonel, at the Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées. After completing a thesis in Medicine at Claude Bernard University in Lyon, dedicated to Robert Schumann’s mental disease, he defended another thesis in Neurosciences at the C.N.R.S. in Marseille, focused on the study of cerebral activity related to control of motor activities, particularly during music performance.

Researcher in the Army until 2017, he has used his research and publications (Biological Psychology, Experimental Brain Research, Psychophysiology, Journal of Applied Physiology, Frontiers in Psychology, Translational Psychiatry, International Journal of Psychophysiology,PLoS One, Ergonomics, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, Medical Gas Research, Scientific Reports, Critical Care Medicine, Revue Française de Psychiatrie et de Psychologie Médicale, Hypnose & Thérapies Brèves,..) to offer a new reading grid of reference methods devoted to piano technique. From now on, he explores the field of non-ordinary states of consciousness (hypnosis, meditation, lucid dreaming) that he uses for artistic help, including preparation for the stage (Orgues Nouvelles n°39, La Lettre du Musicien n°517).

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2020/2021
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