MARC CROFTS
For several years, Marc has been a teacher at the EMA in Geneva. He gives individual lessons and workshops with an emphasis on non-classical violin and Creative Strings in general.
Composing
Marc often composes for various musicians and ensembles. Here are some examples of his work.
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2020 - "Gasn Nigunim (Street Tunes)", for solo violin, commissioned by the Week-End Musical de Pully, interpreted by Samuel Hirsch.
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2021 - "Promenade", for the gypsy swing band Gadjo, Feat. Denis Croisonnier.
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2022 - " Loco Motivo, buleria para orquesta ", commissioned by and for the Ministrings.
Tom Brunt's Acoustic Space
Led by Swiss guitarist, arranger and composer Tom Brunt, this formation, typical of gypsy swing music, steers away from tradition in search of it's own sound. Original compositions inspired by the likes of Jim Black, Egberto Gismonti and Oren Ambarchi, take the quartet beyond sylistic borders, somewhere between folk, jazz and contemporary improvised music. The listener is thus immerged in an acoustic space unlike any other, that these musicians are so fond of.
First album out in 2022.
Tom Brunt - acoustic guitar, composition
Marc Crofts - violin
Charles Fréchette - acoustic guitar
Pierre Balda - double bass
Octuor Nymphéas
An ambitious project of the Echoes of Django collective, the Nympheas octet brings together a string quartet and a typical gypsy swing combo. The ensemble proposes an original take on guitarist Django Reinhardt's works, seen through the lense of his classical influences. The masterfully crafted arrangements of Theo Kaiser manage to blend impressionist music textures with swing rhythmes and jazz harmony.
Theo Kaiser - Trumpet, Arrangements
Benoit Convert - Guitar
Jérémie Pellaz - Guitar
Jean-Baptiste Guerrier - Double bass
Vincent Millioud - Violin
Marc Crofts - Violin
Elise Lehec - Viola
Lina Luzzi - Cello
Gypson Five
Gypsoïde Music, oriental fractals, balkan madness, berber trance, gypsy flight across the desert wind, come along for a gypsoriental voyage. This groupe has known many forms and evolutions during it's lifetime, and the show doesn't seem to be coming to an end. Be it on the shores of Lac Léman, along the Danube or by the Mediterranean sea, the instruments come out for any occasion, and life is a pretexte for music !
Born in Gevena, at the Avenir squat, during the late 2000s, Gypson Five is Marc's oldest standing groupe, and he considers it to be like a second family, with it's tenderness and it's nervous breakdowns, with it's overprotective mother and it's absent father, it's joker uncle and scatterbrain cousins... who are in fact all brothers.
Zdenko Urban - acoustic guitar, voice
Ismael Kord - mandole, voice
Marc Crofts - violin, voice
Gabriel Gomez - cajon, percussion
Igor Gase - double bass
Hotegezugt
Led by yiddishist saxophonist photographer bee-keeper Michel Borzykowski, Hotegezugt (a yiddish expression meaning something like "whatever...") exists since the 90's. They perpetuate the klezmer tradition but allow it to evolve at the same time. Their repertoir is taken from an impressive library of klezmer scores and recordings that Michel has transcribed and collected during his life.
Michel Borzykowski - saxophone
Pier-Yves Têtu / Sylvie Bossi - accordion
Marc Crofts / Christine Regard - violin
...and many others!
