Originally from Charente-Maritime, Marie Célerier, 21, will join the prestigious National Conservatory of Music (CNSM) in Paris at the start of the next school year. At the beginning of February, she won the only place in the orchestral conducting entrance examination.
It all started in Saint-Savinien, in Charente-Maritime. Marie Célerier discovered the saxophone when she was only six years old. Ten years later, at the end of an orchestral conducting internship, she was offered to train her and give her a baton to lead the local orchestra. “It’s very complicated to start before entering higher education, I was extremely lucky”, testifies the young woman of 21 years.
In the meantime, Marie enrolled at the conservatory of Saintes, then of La Rochelle to continue to practice the saxophone, but also the piano. She passed her baccalaureate in 2016. “That year, I got very strong tendonitis at each elbow”, she recalls. “I couldn’t play music anymore, so I observed conducting a lot during internships, that’s where I learned a lot.”
25 candidates for a place
A desire overwhelms him then to never let go: Marie Célerier will be the conductor. She entered the regional conservatory of Aubervilliers-La Courneuve in orchestral direction and prepared for the entrance examination to the National Superior Conservatory of Music (CNSM) in Paris for three years.
In total, 25 candidates for a single place. On February 9, at the end of the two admission phases, the young woman learned the good news: she was selected to join the Paris Conservatory for five years of study. “I don’t really realize”, says Marie. “It’s so great, it’s hard for me to get back to a normal emotional state”.
A very “human” job
What the young woman prefers about conducting is “The human side” with the musicians.
You have to be demanding and have fun at the same time.
While staying close to the score, Marie likes to think that she has the last word on the interpretation of the music. “When there are 50 of us playing a concert, you have to know how to make decisions so that there is harmony. It’s the fact of managing a group that appeals to me. ”
If today, the young woman directs several training courses in Saint Savinien, and especially in the Paris region, everything has slowed down since the health crisis. “We continue to do performances for school children, but I hope that we will be able to find our concerts for all audiences soon.” The young Charentaise-maritime warns: if sanitary conditions allow, we will find her in May and June on the Saint-Savinien stage.
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