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Pierre de Coubertin
The name of our band is inspired by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), founder of the modern Olympic Games.
He wanted to combine “muscles and mind” at the Games. So seven editions, from 1912 to 1948, included Olympic events in painting, sculpture, literature, music and architecture. Olympic medals were awared.
"Art enlightens the intelligence, captivates thought, and incites ambition"
Pierre de CoubertinNotes sur l'éducation publique, Paris, 1901
How did your band come about?
We are all colleagues and musicians. Sébastien and Giuseppe have known each other and been playing together with Ben for several years, both within the IOC Music Club and outside. They created a jazz/soul band with Ornella (Television and Marketing Services), and have already performed three concerts.
With other musicians joining the organisation more recently, the idea of forming a pop/rock band became even more concrete. Even though we’d only played together a few times, the opportunity arose to perform at the IOC 2022 Christmas party, and The Coubertines were born!
What are your musical inspirations?
We each have our own passion for music and have been playing for many years outside the IOC and the band. We mainly play pop/rock songs, but we are very open to what each of us can bring and to mixing genres.
What was it like being on the stage for the first time? What do you remember about the evening?
Our first concert as The Coubertines was at the IOC 2022 Christmas party. We loved performing on the stage there. To tell you the truth, we were a bit nervous because we had only started rehearsing for the show three weeks beforehand (laughs). We had to prepare the set and rehearse together every night after work to be ready. And that's not all.
A week before the concert, we suddenly found ourselves without our singer, who was unfortunately unavailable on the night of the concert. So, we scoured the newcomers' articles on the Gazette (IOC internal magazine) looking for a replacement.
That's when we came across Maureen... just four days before the concert! She was immediately up for the challenge and worked hard to be ready to perform with us. She did a really great job! In the end, we had a lot of fun.
What are your next tour dates, and do you plan to play on other occasions? What are your plans for the future?
We are actually on the hunt for a press agent to organise our international tour (laughs). On a more serious note, our first concerts have made us want to continue playing gigs, and we are always looking for the next opportunity.
Beyond the concerts, we also have many projects for the music club community: improvisation sessions, discovery of various music styles or new instruments, discussions about our common passion, personal use of the music room, formation of new music groups, etc.
We would like the Club to be more alive, with more activities organised around music.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
Plato
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