CHRISTIAN GARCIA GAUCHER

www.g-gaucher.com

Christian Garcia-Gaucher, born in 1968 in Geneva, is a Swiss musician, composer, theater director and producer. Since 2015, he lives between Brussels and Lausanne after 10 years in Berlin.

Although he starts learning music at the age of 6 in a musician family, his first professional education was as graphic designer. After 7 years as artistic director of a cinema magazine, he definitely moves into the music world and music teaching from 1996. Graduated of the solfège method Edgar Willems, he taught for a few years in music schools before devoting himself exclusively to his artistic project with the collective Velma.

The band will record several albums, with different producers and record labels. The second album "Cyclique" for example, is released on Emperor Norton Records in the United States and the fourth album "Ludwig" is produced by Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Seefeel). During tours in Europe and US, the band will meet other musicians and the experimental hip-hop band Dälek in particular will have some influence, remixes and EP will be recorded with them.

Christian Garcia-Gaucher will start to compose music for films in 2003 for the director Jean-Stéphane Bron. His film « Le génie helvétique » is winner at the swiss film awards in the documentary category that year. Since then, the compositions for the cinema will come one after another, as much in the fields of documentary as fiction movies. Directors including Jean-Stéphane Bron (The Brain 2020, La vallée, 2017, L’expérience Blocher, 2013; Maïs im Bundeshuus, 2003; etc), Stéphanie Chuat et Véronique Reymond (Schwesterlein, in competition at the Berlinale 2019), Lionel Baier (Prénom Matthieu in competition at the Berlinale 2018), Frederic Mermoud (Moka, 2016), Eva Vitija (Das Leben Drehen, winner of the Solothurn film fest. 2015), Lila Ribi (La révolution silencieuse 2016), François Kohler (Je ne te voyais pas 2018), Christophe M. Saber (Discipline, La vallée du sel, 2014), Vincent Pluss (On dirait le sud, 2003; Du bruit dans la tête, 2008), Bruno Deville (La boule d’or, 2008, La traversée, 2011). And outside Switzerland, with Sonja Heiss (Hotel Very Welcome, DE, 2006) et Andrew Kötting (Ivul, GB, 2008). Then he will receive a nomination by the Swiss film award 2014 for the Best Music in « L’expérience Blocher », by Jean- Stéphane Bron.

Before or in parallel of his compositions for films, Christian Garcia-Gaucher and the collective Velma are creating music performances for theater. A very specific scenic language, a work on the form, the codes and the presence on stage. Winner of the young creators prize 2002, all the shows oscillate between performance, concert and opera. There will be: «Cyclique 1& 2"(2000), then

"Applique" (2001), "Rondo" (2002), "Velma Superstar" (2005) and "Requiem" (2007).

In 2010, he starts his own theater staging, first with "Pastiche" at the Stadttheater in Bern, then there will be "Glissando" in collaboration with the actors of the National Theater of Warsaw for the 200th anniversary of the birth of F. Chopin. Or, he’s also one of the eight associated artists to Stefan Kaegi’s and Lola Aria’s project Ciudades Paralelas, a traveling documentary theater festival, in this the frame: "In the name of the people", a very special site specific project with compositions for a choir which takes place inside the courthouses of several major capitals, such as Buenos Aires, Berlin, Warsaw, or Zurich among others.

In 2014, he creates the Serie-Opera Trilogy, 3 small operas for one singer and one musician: Orfeo, Othello and Salomé. Salome will be the winner of the Music Theater Now Award and will be honored by a prestigious jury composed of Brett Bailey, Joseph V. Mellilo, Ana Lara and Guy Coolen.

In 2018, he composes his first symphony for a full orchestra "Eine Waldsinfonie" as part of the Lucerne Festival and produced by the Lucerne Theater.

For theater or dance he also composes original music for artists like Stefan Kaegi, Fabienne Berger, Rudi van de Merwe or Dominique de Rivaz.

As music producer, beside Velma and his own band Meril Wubslin, he will mainly work with 2 singers: Kassette for the album « Far » and Emilie Zoé for the album « The Very Start ».