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BIOGRAPHY OF JEAN-CHRISTAN MICHEL

Jean-Christian Michel music star

Music's Star


New !  Jean-Christian Michel DOWNLOAD YOUR MP3 ALBUMS DIRECTLY ONLINE New !  Jean-Christian Michel

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How a young surgeon became in less than one year a music star: Biography and news of an extraordinary musician who upset the commercial circuits : childhood of an artist, jazz concerts in church, meeting with Kenny Clarke World Star: Sacred Music at the Zenith.

Fingers on the clarinet

King


A UNIQUE CAREER

A UNIQUE MUSIC

Jean-Christian Michel

Jean-Christian Michel's destiny has been quite exceptional. His original compositions, coupled with an extraordinary clarinet sound, quickly brought him to a unique place in the world of music, and the glory of a global career. The immense success of his Jazz and Sacred music church concerts and the sales of his new CD of Spatial Jazz & Sacred Music attest to it. But if music is at heart of the great composer and clarinetist, the man also amazes by virtue of his individual personality.

 JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL : A MUSIC's STAR BORN WITH A DESTINY & A LIFE OF LOVE FOR MUSIC

Studious Childhood of Jean-Christian Michel

Studious Childhood

A DEEP NEED FOR MUSIC

In his childhood Jean-Christian Michel already had an irresistible need for music :

When he was seven, he went alone into the multi-coloured obscurity of cathedrals to listen to the deep sounds of the organ.

There, the blind organist of his church discovered his gift for music and introduced him to musical beauty.

Jean-Christian Michel young surgeon

Young surgeon

Later he entered the conservatoire, to study the clarinet, quickly gaining a passion for J.-S. Bach's Sacred music and american black Jazz. But also for the sciences, the arts and philosophy.

He left both, high school with a diploma and the security of his family home at sixteen. Because, in the household of Jean-Christian Michel, one does not joke : "music is not a real profession !"

JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL SURGEON AT 27

Jean-Christian Michel works however to pay for his studies, does odd jobs, he sets up a small jazz orchestra which quickly acquires good notoriety. Between his exams and medical and surgical competitions, Jean-Christian Michel cannot restrain his musical vocation and quickly knows the demon of creation : because in his silences, Jean-Christian Michel hears the echo of a music trying desperately to be born : his own.

At twenty-seven he was a surgeon...

JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL FIRST DISC AND FIRST CONCERTS.

In December 1967, Jean-Christian Michel recorded his first disc, Requiem : an innovative agreement between the rigor of classical sacred music and jazz. Jean-Christian Michel gives his first concert in Marseille in the Abbey of Saint Victor.

 SACRED MUSIC ON THE FRONT PAGE OF CURRENT EVENTS

Jean-christian Michel and Monique Thus

 

Jean-Christian Michel  at crowded St Roch church

Jean-Christian Michel's
St Roch church concert.

A man shrouded by mystery draws a generation of young people towards an unexpected music, purer and more spiritual, mixing clarinet and organ and fusing Jazz vitality and the majesty of Sacred music.

The "All Parisian Show Business" is amazed, this type of concert goes beyond its usual standards : it does not understand that music which is not of variety and where the public does not even see the artist can attract as much people !

Kenny Clarke, the brilliant drummer of the MODERN JAZZ QUARTET joins the group. Millions of albums are sold all over the world, overtaking at that time even the sales of the Beatles.

Thousands of concerts are given in front of immense crowds : the phenomenon of Jean-Christian Michel had arrived and the "jazz-classical" crossover was born !

St Victor abbey at night

Saint Victor Abbey

 

Jean-Christian Michel - Kenny Clarke - Recording with Kenny Clarke

Jean-Christian Michel
With Kenny Clarke

Requiem first album of Jean-Christian Michel

1st vinyl disc Requiem

An unimaginable crowd sitting on the floor  at the concert of Jean-Christian Michel

An unimaginable crowd sitting on the floor

Jean-Christian Michel and his Quartet with organ

Church "St Pierre
de Chaillot" - Paris

CONCERTS GIVEN EXCLUSIVELY IN THE CHURCHES

Sacred Music church concerts of Jean-Christian Michel

1970. The black shadow of a clarinet stands out against the stained glass windows of France's great cathedrals.

In the new type concerts of Michel, there is nothing to see - no spectacle - only an incredible heartbreaking sound. Silence and meditation : beyond the ideological demands and the rejection of accepted values, seems to take shape in the youth a spiritual quest ... The enthusiasm of the public is reflected in the colossal record sales, and in the impressive crowds gathered in churches at each clarinetist recital

JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL, PROPELLS SACRED MUSIC IN THE TOPICS OF THE NEWS AND BECOMES STAR N ° 1

Eddie Barclay

Eddie Barclay

Eddie Barclay Jean-Christian Michel and Charles Aznavour

With Eddie Barclay and Charles Aznavour

Jean-Christian Michel recording with Kenny Clarke

With Kenny Clarke

Jean-Christian Michel records his second album, "Aranjuez" which is a new hit ! The boxes of albums are jostling among record stores who in memory have never seen such excitement.

Jean-Christian Michel composer

Jean-Christian Michel
Dreams the music

Jean-Christian Michel concert in  Paris

Jean-Christian Michel in concert
At Saint Germain l'Auxerrois - Paris

Jean-Christian Michel Super star

Jean-Christian Michel
Music Super Star

This time it is a real craze that is growing, and will gradually turn into a sociological phenomenon. The young music star will even appear for years on the pages of the Billboard, the leading American newspaper which lists the world's best sales of records.

Yet nobody knows the face of this solitary man who avoids society and the gala evenings of the Star-System

THE CALL OF THE HIMALAYAS - IMAGES

Jean-Christian Michel in the Himalayas.

Jean-Christian Michel
Himalayas expedition

Because Jean-Christian Michel himself is a very exceptional person. At the peak of his success, he disappeared abruptly from the media spotlight.

An authenticity drew him towards mysterious places where he would be able to confront his own soul.

It was on the murderous slopes of the Himalayas where, as expedition doctor, he was to climb the "first" of Tawesche, about 7000 metres above sea level with Yannick SEIGNEUR, the famous conquerer of Makalu !

Jean-Christian Michel climbing in the Himalayas

Climbing in the
Himalayas Népal

At Lhasa, in Tibet he joined a thousand years of tradition… He discovered, in the shadow of forbidden monasteries, mysterious sciences which exceeded by far all his previous researches.

Through these experiences Jean-Christian Michel gradually achieved the spirituality for which he has been striving since the childhood.

 CONCERTS - A GLOBAL CAREER

Jean-Christian Michel

 

Jean-Christian Michel concert in Hambourg

Concert in Hamburg

But his return is publicly demanded, success is there. Jean-Christian Michel is in demand all over the world.

Air travel is on the increase, fabulous concerts, the grueling rooms of large soulless hotels, repetitive interviews and the inevitable television sequences ... The 70s to 80s saw it everywhere. .

The clarinetist performs equally well in his "tour of cathedrals", as he does under the vault of a star studded sky in the "Natural Cathedrals concerts", or even in immense aeroplane hangars…

Concert of Jean-Christian Michel in Hamburg

 

Jean-Christian Michel :  Concert in cathedral

Cathedrals tour

From Hamburg to Los Angeles, by way of Abidjan and Stockholm, thousands of young people applaud Jean-Christian Michel.

Europe, America (USA, Canada, South America), Africa, Australia, Asia, alternately resound to his talent.

 OFFICIAL DISTINCTIONS

 3 diamond discs, and a dozen gold reccords  for Jean-Christian Michel

3 diamond discs, and a dozen gold reccords


SACEM's Medal

SACEM's Medal

 

Pope Paul VI's Silver Medal

Pope Paul VI's
Silver Medal

At the same time this secret man, who does not particularly seek them, is honoured by official distinctions.

GOLD RECORDS

The great composer receives 3 diamond discs, 7 platinum discs and 10 golden discs...

FULL MEMBER OF THE SACEM

He becomes a Full Member of the SACEM ( association of composers and music publishers to protect copyright and royalties )...

PRIZE FOR SCIENCE AND CULTURE

Then a jury consisting of six Nobel prize winners awards him, at the Sorbonne, Paris, the prize for "Sciences and Culture"... But is all this really important ?

CARITATIVE ACTION

In the midst of this adulation Jean-Christian Michel does not forget the humanitarian questions and very often supports and does charitable works. Pope PAUL VI expresses his gratitude in a letter of congratulations accompanied by his silver medal.

ANNAPURNAS, KILIMANDJARO : THE COLLECTION OF THE USELESS

Jean-Christian Michel in front of the Pothala Lhasa

The Pothala Temple Lhasa

 

Jean-Christian Michel in Lhassa

Pothala Temple inside

Alongside his career, in his perpetual quest for knowledge and freedom, Jean-Christian Michel is passionate about aviation, learns to fly, and then escapes to the controls of his own aircraft.

He flies over land, seas and oceans and even crosses Africa...

The Himalayas, naturally, kept many secrets. Peaks and adventures continue to call to him like unending love stories.

He returned there five times. Mera Peak, Island Peak, Dolpo, Annapurnas, Amadablam, Lhasa...

Jean-Christian Michel's plane licence

 Jean-Christian Michel : Plane pilot

 

Jean-Christian Michel Plane Pilot.

Jean-Christian Michel
& his Ralllye MS.880

Then he visited Tanzania, to contemplate the sunrise over Africa from the mystical summit of Kilimanjaro.

At the same time and in the same quest for freedom and discovery, he took up aviation, and regularly escapes at the controls of his own plane.

 JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL IN CONCERT TODAY

Today, Jean-Christian Michel still gives concerts in the cathedrals, but also great Laser shows 3 D in magnificent sites. He gives also interstellar concerts in the churches in front of of a giant screen.

Jean-Christian Michel performing

In his concerts, Jean-Christian Michel unites the echo of his clarinet with a choir of instruments in a magical atmosphere.

EMOTION AND HIGH-TECHNOLOGY IN CHURCH

The digital liturgical church organ that he has invented sounds like an orchestra. The synthesizers surround him with exotic veils of rare beauty :

On keyboard, we find his constant collaborator, Monique THUS. Unfamiliar sounds move and penetrate the body...

Jean-Christian Michel : interstellar concert in a cathedral

Interstellar concert

Jean-Christian Michel : concert Laser3 D sur les eaux

Laser concert

The soul and the senses wind gradually into the spiral of a cosmic universe where one escapes gravity. Jean-Christian Michel, reveals, through the heart-rendingly plaintive song of his clarinet the enigmas of unknown worlds.

PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT

Jean-Christian Michel possesses an exceptional balance between action and meditation. He dedicates his energy to the singular constant which has endured since the dawn of time : change.

To be afraid of change, is obviously to be afraid of the unknown : that's why man is afraid of being born, of living and of dying …

But Jean-Christian Michel reveres change, because it is the fundamental element of intelligence, evolution and progress.

So, the fear fades, the disturbing unknown becomes an opportunity to discover and create and also a source of enjoyment : this glittering warmth in his music is like a beautiful light which erases all fear.

Jean-Christian Michel at the Sorbonne Paris

"Science and Culture" Price
In the "Sorbonne" - Paris

For Jean-Christian Michel, Life, Love and Music, derive from the same big principle. That is why, with Nature, Freedom and Knowledge, they are his sacred values. The Essential in its simplicity is his secret.

He has always searched for it, and now, coming close to an ultimate understanding of the universe he wants to share his vision.

JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL : A MYSTERIOUS MUSICAL MESSAGE

Contemporary composer, impressive concert performer, Jean-Christian Michel is one of the great musicians.

However, his music escapes from the known universe : by leading us to a recognition of ourselves, it floods us with a golden dust, made by the fusion of our breath with that of the heavenly spheres.

It is clear that Jean-Christian Michel wants to make the intimacy of man resonate with the echo of the infinite, and to resound in the infinity of worlds the tiny echo of the intimacy of Man.

J.V. KERNEL

Jean-Christian Michel's dream


NEW ALBUM / CD RELEASE & MP3 DOWNLOAD

The music you are listening to on this page is in the album :

JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL VIF OBSCUR

Vif Obscur Jean-Christian Michel

MONIQUE THUS ORGAN & KEYBOARDS

Replay music

[ ORDER THE CD ] - [ DOWNLOAD THE MP3 ALBUM ]

VIF-OBSCUR

Monique THUS, organ ; Sauveur MALLIA, bass. In this album : "La Cathédrale de Lumière" is a futuristic concerto from Jean-Christian Michel for clarinet and slap bass,

Vif-Obscur - La Cathédrale de Lumière - La Voix des Transparents - Berceuse en filigrane- Le Puits de Lumière - Danse aux Pieds nus - L'Ecume des Songes.


NEW VIDEOCLIPS OF JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL

Music video clip Jean-Christian Michel

  BACH JAZZ BY JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL
  Bach jazz : trio in c minor Swinging BACH : sonata 4  
Church concert : Jesu joy of man desiring Music Dvd : my soul longeth to depart in peace
  JAZZ & SACRED MUSIC BY JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL
Jazz & sacred music : vision d'Ézéchiel Jean-Christian Michel in concert
Concert in Marseille : l'aube des temps Sacred music video clip : kyriale
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL SHOWS - SON & LUMIÈRE
Interstellar concert :Ève des origines Laser concert with Kenny Clarke
Show "son & lumière" : générations par millions Laser show : danse aux pieds nus
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL PLAYS JAZZ
Clarinet jazz concert : black & blue Video clip jazz : loveless love (jazzman)
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL'S INTERVIEWS (fr)
Star music interview Interview artist France 3 TV

WATCH / DOWNLOAD VIDEO CLIPS

DISCOVER DISCS CD & DVD OF JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL

Clarinet & Organ Discs, DVD & Concerts of a new type

 


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