The Philharmonie de Paris reopens for the Fête de la Musique and a summer program

After three months of confinement and shutdown, how to restart your activity? By trying for example to reconnect with its audience. Weakened by the health crisis and accusing financial losses estimated at 10 million euros, the Philharmonie de Paris will kick off its summer season on June 21. "Make music, participate ... This is perhaps what the epidemic has most affected, " says Laurent Bayle, director general of the establishment . In terms of education, young people's journey, fulfillment, better integration into society, this sudden stop has wider consequences. ”

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The institution has therefore taken on the challenge of gradually returning to the situation before the health crisis, by reopening its doors to the public this summer and at the same time celebrating the traditional meeting of the Fête de la Musique. A launch made possible by the transition to the green area of ​​the Île-de-France region on June 15.

"You have to go gradually"

Designed in a week, this somewhat unusual program will offer an open-air gamelan concert on June 21 in the middle of the afternoon - an imposing traditional instrument from Java. For its part, and in order to offer a "participative approach" , the Accentus choir and the musicians of the Cappella Mediterranea will take to the steps of the Philharmonie in the company of the public. In the Pierre-Boulez room, spectators will be able to find the children of the Demos orchestras, already present on the occasion of the Fête de la Musique 2019, during a rehearsal alongside their godmother Khatia Buniatishvili.

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“You have to go there gradually to arrive at the start of September, already having your bearings. Philosophy is evolving rather quickly so we have to be part of this movement, ” says Laurent Bayle. The Philharmonie, whose future is still very uncertain, is also betting on a “Solidarity Summer” to maintain the link with its youngest audience. On the program, educational, artistic and cultural workshops in the Parc de la Villette, thus forming part of Emmanuel Macron's “learning summer” project .

We will have a 2020 budget deficit between three and five million euros

Supported in part by public authorities including the City of Paris and the prefecture for this operation, the Philharmonie also called on the generosity of patrons and individuals to supplement its funding. “We will have a 2020 budget deficit between three and five million euros. The call for donations will therefore make this investment bearable for the institution ”.

As for the application of sanitary measures for these activities, it remains unclear. "We know some of them, such as the mask and the rules to be respected in an enclosed space, but there remains the question of the rules in an open space because it is more difficult to organize" , explains Laurent Bayle, who hopes to have more clarifications from the government on June 22.

Uncertain return

Will the public be at the rendezvous of this musical program? Hard to say, says the managing director. "As we are going to be in an in-between, half between the organized concert and the spontaneous concert, it will not encourage the arrival of the public". The Minister of Culture Franck Riester recalled in a press release that gatherings "of more than 10 people were always prohibited on the public domain" .

We are armed and organized enough to face

But the main concern of Laurent Bayle is the future of the institution at the start of the school year. "I am on a position, perhaps of wisdom, consisting in saying" let us give a little bit of time and depth before expressing final judgments "". Several scenarios have been imagined by the Philharmonie to cope with the situation and adapt to changes in the health crisis: as for the implementation of intermissions, during which the influx of spectators is to be feared and which will be necessary therefore reformat in the event of a resurgence of the pandemic. “We are armed and organized enough to cope. But I cannot preempt a global situation which depends on other criteria than the Philharmonie, ” concludes Laurent Bayle.

Complete program to find on the Philharmonie site for the Fête de la Musique and for support for the Solidarity Summer operation.