Video: In honor of the centennial of Astor Piazzolla’s birth, bandoneon player Julien Labro has developed a program showcasing Piazzolla’s best and least known works.

Julien Labro has had an amazing 2019 with new compositions, new performances, and new movies all keeping the bandoneon and accordion in the forefront. Included below are several of his accomplishments this year and his 2020 schedule.

Excerpt from Chicago Tribune article by Howard Reich 12/23/2019:” From Ravi Coltrane to Freddy Cole, 2019′s best jazz performances in Chicago. Performance by Julien Labro, March 22 at the Green Mill Jazz Club“”No one has done more in contemporary times to assert the accordion’s place in jazz than Labro, a brilliant technician and thoroughly musical improviser. Like Art Van Damme before him, Labro transcends the instrument’s presumed limitations. He did so repeatedly in this performance, most notably in the aptly named “Chutzpah,” a genre-bending original dedicated to musical experimenter John Zorn. Labro transcended epochs and idioms, careening from conventional harmony to bracing chord clusters, from hard-charging single-note lines to gnarly counterpoint. By any measure, a tour de force.”

Julien Labro played for composer Bryce Dessner on his score of The Two Popes, a new movie starring Anthony Hopkins & Jonathan Pryce. Available on Netflix December 20, 2019, the movie has won the following awards:
Winner – Audience Award for US Cinema, Mill Valley Film Festival
Winner – Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, Hamptons International Film Festival
Winner – Audience Award for Best Narrative Film,Middleburg Film Festival

Collaboration of Julien Labro and classical guitarist Jason Vieux:
New West Symphony is premiering a double concerto for an unusual pair of instruments — unusual by symphony standards, at least. “Canvas”, a new work by French accordionist and composer Julien Labro, gives the solo treatment to the bandoneón and the guitar. They’re a standard duo in tango music, but not all that common in the concert hall. Luckily, two expert soloists, as well as complementary programming, make the case.

On Nov. 16 and 17, 2019, guitarist Jason Vieaux, along with Labro himself on bandoneón, joined the New West Symphony for the world premiere performances. It’s not the first outing for the duo; Vieaux and Labro have a history of collaboration to draw on. Another work on the weekend’s program, Astor Piazzolla’s “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”, is a piece the two have recorded together. The coupling of virtuosic players, as well as compositions old and new, promises a concert of musical insights and connections. Michael Christie conducted, and works by Bartók, Copland, Dan Visconti, and Gabriela Lena Frank rounded out the program.

“Julien Labro has established himself as one of the foremost accordion and bandoneón players in both the classical and jazz genres. His artistry, virtuosity, and creativity as a musician, composer and arranger have earned him international acclaim and continue to astonish audiences worldwide. Picking up the accordion at 9, French-born Labro was influenced early on by traditional folk music and the melodic, lyrical quality of the French chanson. Upon discovering the music of jazz legends, he quickly became inspired by the originality, freedom, creativity, and the endless possibilities in their musical language.”

Excerpts from Labro’s website: After graduating from the Marseille Conservatory of Music, Labro began winning international awards, taking first prize in the Coupe Mondiale Virtuoso Entertainment category in 1996 and the Castelfidardo Competitions in 1997. After sweeping first place in the Marcel Azzola, Jo Privat and Medard Ferrero competitions in 1995 and 1998, respectively, Labro moved to the United States, where he further pursued his musical dream.

As a musician and artist, Labro is constantly evolving. Equipped with advanced degrees in classical music, jazz studies, and composition, Labro draws from his diverse academic background and eclectic musical influences as he searches for new themes and untried concepts, transforming and developing his creative ideas into new projects.

Date/Artist City/ Venue
01/25/20: Tribute to Django Reinhardt, San Angelo, TX San Angelo Symphony
01/30/20: Opening Nights @ Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Opperman Music Hall
02/01/20: University of Florida Performing Arts Gainesville, FL University Auditorium w/ Cristina Pato Quartet
03/28/20:Berks Jazz Festival, Reading, PA, Miller Center for the Arts: World Premiere of Labro’s newest work for Orchestra, a 3 Mvts suite/concerto for Hot Club Ensemble & Orchestra commissioned by the Berks Jazz Festival/Readings Pops Orchestra.
04/07/20: Julien Labro & Jason Vieaux with the Ceruti Quartet & Pablo Aslan,Memphis, TN Harris Concert Hall: Premiere of the chamber version of Canvas, Labro’s double concerto for bandoneon & guitar.
04/18/20 and 04/19/20: Julien Labro & Jason Vieaux w/ The Buffalo Philharmonic. Buffalo, NY Kleinhans Music Hall

For further information: julen@julienlabro.com