衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

French animation artist Grégoire PONT and Taiwanese pianist Evan WONG unite in an enchanting fusion of live animation and piano, opening a doorway into DEBUSSY's vivid musical landscapes. PONT's poetic animations - including collaborations with the Cologne Opera and the BBC Symphony Orchestra - create visual stories in beautiful harmony with the music they accompany. The gentle touch of Taiwanese pianist WONG - the winner of Japan's Sendai Competition, praised by the Magazine CHOPIN in Japan for his "transparent, beautiful tone" - brings depth to DEBUSSY's works. Together they draw audiences into the serene solitude of "Des pas sur la neige," the gentle ripples of "Reflets dans l'eau," the flowing Arabesque, the soft glow of "Clair de lune," creating an immersive fusion experience of sound and imagery.

  Program  

C. DEBUSSY: "Des pas sur la neige" from Préludes, Book I

C. DEBUSSY: Images oubliées, I. Lent (mélancolique et doux)

C. DEBUSSY: Rêverie

C. DEBUSSY: "Reflets dans l'eau" from Images, Book I

C. DEBUSSY: Arabesque, No. 1

C. DEBUSSY: "La sérénade interrompue" from Préludes, Book I

C. DEBUSSY: "Passepied" from Suite bergamasque

C. DEBUSSY: "La fille aux cheveux de lin" from Préludes, Book I

C. DEBUSSY: "Prélude" from Pour le piano

C. DEBUSSY: "Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir" from Préludes, Book I

C. DEBUSSY: "Pour l'Egyptienne" from Six épigraphes antiques

C. DEBUSSY: "Clair de lune" from Suite bergamasque

  Creative and Production Team  

Animator｜Grégoire PONT

Piano｜Evan WONG

  Artists Introduction  

Animator│Grégoire PONT

An exceptional artistic talent from the tender age of eight, Grégoire PONT attended the Animation Workshop in Paris where he studied Norman MCLAREN's techniques of animation dynamics. He graduated from the Penninghen school of Graphic Arts (ESAG) in 1992 and shortly after directed his first animated film Le concerto du chat, with abstract shapes dancing to the sounds of the Orchestre de Paris at Salle Pleyel.

A great lover of classical music, PONT has always been passionate about making classical music more popular and accessible to both children and adults by means of animation. He developed a new performance concept called "Cinesthetics" where he draws and animates live to a musical performance.

He has made appearances at London Royal Festival Hall, Paris Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Tokyo Suntory Hall and Gothenburg Concert Hall, collaborating with conductors such as Kent NAGANO, Kazushi ONO, Alexandre BLOCH and Marko LETONJA.

PONT has also received great acclaim for bringing his innovative animation techniques to the operatic repertoire.

Together with British director James BONAS, he conceived productions at Opéra de Lyon of RAVEL's L'Enfant et les sortilèges and L'heure espagnole, as well as premiering a new production of ORFF's Der Mond in 2020. The dramatic success of L'Enfant resulted in a revival with San Francisco Symphony and performances at Oman's Royal Opera House, Limoges Opera, Toulon Opera and Cincinnati Symphony, with an upcoming revival at Opéra de Lille. PONT also created animations for the semi staging of BIZET's Carmen for Orchestre National de Lille. In 2021, PONT brought Hans Abrahamsen's Snow Queen to Opéra National du Rhin and HUMPERDINCK's Hansel and Gretel to Cologne Opera. 

PONT additionally illustrates books for children, most notably Les Excalibrius , and has made numerous animations for TV commercials, educational animated shorts and music video clips. For three seasons, PONT worked with his innovative orchestra Les Siècles on "Presto!" (France Television.) This animated series of musical works was seen by over three million viewers on weekly primetime television. Most recently he has worked on animated effects for the music video "Catch Me," from the color series by New Studios, featuring the Boston ballet dancer My'Kal STROMILE.

Piano│Evan WONG

Praised by the Magazine CHOPIN in Japan for his "transparent, beautiful tone and thoughtful interpretation," Taiwanese American pianist Evan WONG is the Silver Medalist and Audience Prize winner of the 6th Sendai International Competition in Japan. He has appeared in recitals and concerts throughout North America, Europe and Asia, in venues such as Carnegie's Weill Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Jordan Hall and John Hancock Hall in Boston, Chicago Cultural Center and Pick-Staiger Hall in Chicago, Toppan Hall, Hitachi Systems Hall, Kirishima Concert Hall and Itzumity 21 Concert Hall in Japan, Daegu Concert House in South Korea, Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, Belgium, Richard Jakoby Saal in Hannover, Germany, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Spain, Teatro Marrucino in Italy, Music Centre in Helsinki, Finland, and National Concert Hall, National Taichung Theater and National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) in Taiwan.

Most recently, in February 2024, He released his second album Earthing, which features works by composer Shiuan CHANG and aims to raise mental health awareness. His first album under the Acousence Label was released in Germany, 2020, and has also recorded for radio stations such as the MPR (Minnesota, USA), WFMT (Chicago, USA), KBS (South Korea), Shanghai Classical 94.7 (China), and the Taipei Classical, Radio Taiwan International, National Education, Bravo 91.3 and Voice of Han (Taiwan). 

WONG has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Sendai Philharmonic, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes de México, Southern Illinois Festival Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Century Symphony Orchestra, New Sendai Philharmonic, Saga Symphony Orchestra, World Civic Orchestra, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and the NEC Philharmonia Orchestra and conductors Pascal VERROT, Julian KUERTI, Victor YAMPOLSKY, Dorian WILSON, Daniela CANDILLARI, Paul MEYER, Yuri NITTA, Edward BENYAS, Kuokman LIO, Seitaro ISHIKAWA, Tung-chieh CHUANG, Gernot SCHMALFUSS and Ludwig CARRASCO.

A frequent guest in several famous festivals, WONG has performed at the Verbier, Lucerne, Ravinia, Aspen, Gilmore, Kneisel Hall festivals where he has worked and collaborated with musicians such as Itzak PERLMAN, Miriam FRIED, Gary HOFFMAN, Midori, Mihaela MARTIN, Pamela FRANK, Franz HELMERSON, Laurence LESSER, Kim KASHKASHIAN and members of the Cleveland, Takacs and Juilliard Quartets.

WONG holds degrees from the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany (Konzertexamen), Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music (DMA), The Juilliard School (MM) and the New England Conservatory (BM). His teachers include Matti RAEKALLIO, Jerome LOWENTHAL, Wha Kyung BYUN, Boris SLUTSKY, Mengchieh LIU, Alan CHOW, Ewa KUPIEC and Rolf-Peter WILLE.

Currently, WONG is a full-time Assistant Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts. He has also taught at Harbin Conservatory of Music in China as their Distinguished Professor and served on the faculties at the University of Taipei and Fu Jen University.

  Cultural Development Partner