This day will explore the different stages of the process, from the study of sources to playing the instruments: observation and analysis of historical instruments and reeds, study of iconography and written sources, instrument reconstruction, and experimentation with playing techniques. Peter Nahon and Lola Soulier will present the research carried out as part of the ANR Anches project, while Jean-Marc Philippe, oboist and professor of Baroque oboe, and Thierry Bertrand, a maker specialising in historical double-reed wind instruments, will share their practical experience. The day will alternate between lectures, discussions, presentations of iconography, bibliographical resources and repertoire, demonstrations, group and individual playing sessions, and opportunities to try historically informed instruments and reeds.

Objectives

• Identify the characteristics of historical instruments and reeds
• Experiment with different playing techniques based on historical sources
• Understand how instrument-making and reed-making choices relate to musical interpretation

Trainers

Peter Nahon, researcher (CMBV - CNRS)
A former student of the École des chartes, Peter Nahon has been a research fellow at the CNRS since 2023. His research focuses on linguistic, philological and cultural contacts between the Romance and Hebrew-speaking worlds. He has taken a particular interest in Jewish communities in southern France, their languages, texts, oral traditions and liturgies. At the CMBV, his work now focuses in particular on musical borrowings and contrafacta in the liturgies of Provençal Jews during the Baroque period.

Lola Soulier, researcher and oboist (CMBV)
Alongside her work as an oboist, Lola Soulier is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles as part of the ANR Anches project: From Reed to Music – Rediscovering the Sound of Baroque Double-Reed Instruments. In 2023, she received the Austrian PFS Research Prize for her master’s thesis on the oboe in France in the late 18^th century. She has also published an article on historical wind instrument performance practice in the Bärenreiter collective volume Alte Musik heute: Geschichte und Perspektiven der Historischen Aufführungspraxis.

Jean-Marc Philippe, oboist
Jean-Marc Philippe studied Baroque and Classical oboe with Michel Henry at the Paris Regional Conservatory and the Lyon National Conservatoire (CNSM), where he graduated with distinction. He is regularly invited to perform with numerous European orchestras and is also principal oboe of Insula Orchestra and B’Rock Orchestra. In 2006, he founded Ensemble A Venti, a wind octet that reimagines the 18th-century Harmoniemusik tradition. Passionate about pedagogy and teaching, Jean-Marc Philippe places great importance on sharing his experience and teaches Baroque oboe at the Versailles Regional Conservatory and the Paris-Saclay Departmental Conservatory in Orsay.

Thierry Bertrand, oboist maker 
Originally from Saint-Jean-de-Monts (Vendée, France), Thierry Bertrand discovered the veuze, a regional bagpipe once played in the eastern and southern parts of historic Brittany and in the Breton-Vendée marshlands, at the age of 13. He then began teaching himself music. Coming from a family of craftspeople, he trained professionally as a cabinetmaker and woodturner before beginning his work in instrument making in 1977. He later supplemented his training as an instrument maker and researcher with studies in acoustics at I.T.E.M.M. From the 2000s onwards, Thierry Bertrand devoted his work to researching and reconstructing the family of grand hautbois (large oboes), which emerged in the second half of the 15^th century and remained in use until the mid-17^th century. Today, he is an instrument maker specialising in bagpipes, historical oboes and historical reeds, as well as a teacher and professional musician specialising in traditional music and early music from the late 15^th to the early 17^th century.

Training arrangements 

• In-person workshop only
• Workshop conducted in French (discussions possible in English)
• Assessment methods: self-assessment and individual final feedback from the instructors

Programme

Programme subject to change

Friday 5^th February 2027
Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, Versailles

• 10:30 am: welcome
• 11 am: presentations
• 1–2:30 pm: buffet lunch organised by the CMBV
• 2:30 pm: repertoire reading session
• 4:30 pm: round-table discussion
• 5:30 pm: free playing session
• 7 pm: end

Saturday 6^th February 2027
Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, Versailles

• 9:30 am: welcome
• 10 am: presentations and repertoire reading sessions
• 1 pm: closing remarks
• 1:30 pm: lunch (at your own discretion)
• 3 pm: free playing session on the instruments, if desired
• 5 pm: tidying up and closing

Participants

• Professional instrumentalists
• Instrument makers
• Musicologists
• Students in higher education programs

Prerequisites

• Working professionals
• Trainee professionals currently enrolled in higher education (bachelor’s or master’s degree) or equivalent

Repertoire studied

A discussion with the team of instructors ahead of the workshop will help determine the repertoire to be performed during the reading sessions, using the CMBV’s collection of instruments.

Pricing conditions

Rates for the 2-day workshop (online payment via a payment link sent upon acceptance of the application):

Individual participation – rate funded by an OPCO: €150 including VAT (please contact the Training Department administration to request a quote)
Maximum individual participation fee: €150 including VAT
Maximum individual participation fee for students (up to 26 years old): €90 including VAT

For permanent employees and freelance performing artists (intermittents du spectacle), CMBV workshops may be funded through continuing professional development schemes (Afdas, employers, etc.).

Included in the fee:

• Access to CMBV premises (including instrument tuning, where applicable)
• All teaching costs (instructors, instruments, etc.) for the duration of the training
• Active participation in the workshops
• Provision of documents and sheet music
• Instrument loan or access to instruments, where applicable

Not included in the fee:

• Travel expenses
• Accommodation and meals

Registration

Participation in the professional meeting is not subject to selection.
Please register by completing the registration form below.

Accessibility

The teaching rooms and spaces are accessible to people with reduced mobility. If you have a disability that requires adjustments to the teaching arrangements, please indicate this when registering. This information will be forwarded to the CMBV’s disability support coordinator, who will contact you if necessary.

Registration opens: 2^nd November 2026
Registration deadline: 6^th December 2026