LOUISE ET VILMORIN

Sophie Tassignon: voice
Kevin Patton: guitar

Louise et Vilmorin’s first collaborative electroacoustic composition called “Les Carnets de Louise”, based on Louise de Vilmorin’s poems “Aveu Monosyllabique” and “Novembre”, will be premiered on Gotland in July 2022. It will be played at Lau Church every Thursday evening.

Backstory of Louise et Vilmorin:

Louise and Vilmorin met when they were both working on a merchant vessel transporting goods between Calais and Utrecht, Louise worked as a navigator while Vilmorin was the cook. As the ship was pulling into port, the police boarded and seized the cargo and the employees.

Thankfully Louise and Vilmorin had shore leave that morning and they walked away. Their duets started later that week. With little money and no job, they were able to catch a train to Amsterdam and began to play on the street to make some money. The time away from her family meant that Louise had to give up her career as a competitive pianist.

With a guitar found in the trash and the amazing voice of Louise, they worked their way to a modest apartment on the outskirts of town. Vilmorin began to get very influenced by the Rotterdam sound of the day called Gabber, but eventually found his way to Houston Texas. Louise then made her way back to Belgium and lived in the country in a house of four other musicians making music and partying every day.

Sixteen years later Louise and Vilmorin reunited on the island Gotland in Sweden and set a series of poems by French poet Louise de Vilmorin to music. After work, they would obsessively play jazz standards and cooked up a whole program of some of the most beautiful classics.