Camille Thomas / Orchestre National de Lille / Alexandre Bloch SAINT-SAËNS - OFFENBACH

Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce that Camille Thomas, among the most charismatic of young classical artists, has signed to the yellow label. The 28-year-old Franco-Belgian musician becomes the first ever female cellist to join Deutsche Grammophon’s artist roster. Her DG debut album, Enchantée, set for release in autumn 2017, will present fresh interpretations of works for cello and orchestra by Saint-Saëns and Offenbach, some of the most beautiful in the repertoire. Recorded with the Orchestre National de Lille and conductor Alexandre Bloch, it will also include bonus tracks featuring guest appearances by violinist Nemanja Radulović and tenor Rolando Villazón. Thomas’s choice of repertoire stems from her passion for French culture and the music of the Romantic period. As well as appealing to her existing fans in France and Germany, the elegance and intensity of her music-making are sure to captivate a global audience.

“It is a great honour to be invited to record for Deutsche Grammophon,” comments Camille Thomas. “To work with the company is like a dream come true for me. I fell in love with Berlin when I moved there from Paris to study and have developed a deep affection for Germany in the decade since. There is something truly special for me about recording for Deutsche Grammophon, sharing in its unrivalled tradition, exploring exciting projects and working with other members of its great family of artists. I look forward to building new audiences for cello in partnership with the yellow label.”

Camille Thomas was born in Paris in 1988. She began playing cello at the age of four and subsequently studied in her native city with Marcel Bardon. Her musical horizons broadened after she left school and enrolled to study with Stephan Forck at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Thomas completed her training with Frans Helmerson at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. Her international breakthrough came in 2014 when she was nominated for a “Newcomer of the Year” award at France’s prestigious Victoires de la Musique Classique and went on to be named winner of that year’s New Talent competition sponsored by the European Broadcasting Union. Thomas’s first album, A Century of Russian Colours, was released to critical acclaim in 2013 and was followed three years later by a fine second album, Reminiscences, awarded a CHOC by French magazine Classica, among other plaudits. In February 2016 she appeared on Arte’s Stars of Tomorrow, hosted by Rolando Villazón, and she was recently named as winner of the 2016 “Young Soloist of the Year” category in RTBF’s C’est du Belge awards, chosen in collaboration with Paris Match.