Quest (1989-1994) de George Crumb - mvt8 Nocturnal

Quest (1989-1994) de George Crumb - mvt8 Nocturnal

Thierry Mercier, guitarist

A guitarist attracted by multiple musical styles, Thierry MERCIER has been invited as one of the soloists at the opening concert of the Venice Biennale in September 2020.

At the beginning of August 2025, he will teach guitar and chamber music at the Musicalta Festival (Alsace, France) https://www.musicalta.com/academie-musique/stage-rouffach/cours/guitare/ A Guitar teacher at the Conservatory in Bourg-La-Reine/Sceaux (France), he has gained extensive experience mentoring students in their careers.

He interprets all guitar concertos, from Vivaldi to the well-known ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, including the most recent works for guitar such as Maurice Ohana's ‘Tres Graficos’ . His solo repertoire includes masterpieces from the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic periods as well as pieces from the XXth century. He has performed solo recitals in Europe in renowned festivals such as Musica (Strasbourg, France), the Edinburgh Festival (UK), Ars Musica (Belgium), Ircam, Présences (France), Villa Medicis (Italy)...

Thierry Mercier was also selected by Pierre Boulez during a hearing, to collaborate with the Ensemble InterContemporain (EiC, France). He worked with numerous composers :

- Luciano Berio, playing and recording with him Sequenza XI, as well as Chemins V with the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) ; Pierre Boulez playing ‘Le Marteau sans maître’; Luis de Pablo for the ‘wold premiere’ of his Concerto Fantasias with the RPO, then with the National Orchestra RTVE in Madrid ; George Crumb for the premiere in France of ‘Quest’ ( guitar & Ensemble) with the Ensemble InterContemporain. Collaborations include work with Tristan Murail, Elliott Carter, Bernard de Vienne, Jose Manuel Lopez-Lopez, György Kurtag.

He is the dedicatee of works from various composers such as L. Bicalho, F-B. Mâche, J. Schöllhorn, Fl. Baschet, Th. Blondeau...

He has collaborated with several orchestras such as the Orchestre National de France as well as Ensembles such as Plural ( Madrid), Ensemble Stravinsky in Metz, Ictus ( Brussels) and Sillage, Court-Circuit (Paris). He played and recorded under conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Pascal Rophé, David Robertson, Nicolas Brochot, Marc-André Valade, Diego Masson... Artistic partners includes Isabel Soccoja, mezzo-soprano, and percussionist Jean Geoffroy. Owing to this interest in interdisciplinary work, he has been involved in projects associating music with dance and theatre.

Thierry Mercier started music a young age by playing the piano and then the guitar as a teenager. His guitar teachers were successively Michèle de Bruyn, Jean Mathelin, then Oscar Caceres. He attended Aesthetics and Musical Analysis in the Conservatoire National Supérieur (Paris). He later studied percussions and conducting. He followed workshops with Léo Brouwer and Early music with Hopkinson Smith.

He was the artistic coordinator of a reference book entitled 10 ans avec la guitare (Cité de la Musique Publ., Paris). Thierry Mercier plays a guitar crafted by Barcelonese instrument maker Gabriel Fleta.

In 2024, he created a new work by Fabian Gonzales, 'Chihiza', for guitar and amplification device, commissioned by Radio-France. https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/podcasts/creation-mondiale/chihiza-de-fabian-gonzalez-pour-guitare-3-5-8372962