Francis Maréchal leaves the Royaumont Foundation

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Royaumont Abbey, in Asnières-sur-Oise (Val-d'Oise) loses a pillar. Francis Maréchalwhich was a stone in the building, has ceased its activities which it conducted with seriousness, rigor and brilliance for the last five decades!

Maréchal leaves Royaumont

“I have just left the general management of the Royaumont Foundation on December 31, 2024, after 47 years at its head. I then passed on my responsibilities to François Naulot, my faithful collaborator for seven years, first artistic director of the Voice and Repertoire Department then general secretary,” confides Francis Maréchal.

An opportunity?

He measures how lucky he was to be entrusted, after the death of his creator, Henry Goüin, in February 1977, with “the freedom of action that I enjoyed, the need to invent a new financing model inspired by the intuitions of its founder, were extremely powerful stimulants for me,” rejoices the general director.

It is, of course, thanks to the family of the Foundation's creators: from Isabel Goüin, from whom he took advice and inspiration during the last years of his life, to his grandchildren, without forgetting the presence “matriarchal” of Marie-Christine Daudy, the benevolence, but also the vigilance, shown to him by the Goüin family, never ceased to stimulate him.

Its first pride is that Royaumont, steeped in a humanist tradition where the social sciences have played and intend to play a singular role, has not ceased to be a place of invention, in phase with its time, can -sometimes even be early. The abbey was the prototype of the cultural meeting centers which have spread since 1973, especially in France.

The incubator

Royaumont was the instigator of the rediscovery of the interpretation of baroque music, the rehabilitation of music from the Middle Ages, the dialogue between traditional repertoires and creation.

The Foundation is today at the forefront of reflection on choreographic writing, promotes new avant-garde creation in music and dance, studies multiple projects combining different disciplines, transmits to younger generations of artists the music and dance the know-how of experienced practitioners combined with the reflection of researchers.

Finally, the abbey benefits from an exceptional community of support, in its diversity and in its loyalty: patrons, members of the Friends of Royaumont association, the Ministry of Culture, the Region, the Department… are now amplifying decisively the financing of our activities.

“I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I am also delighted that the 65 employees are mobilizing around François Naulot to take up the torch. But it is with a heavy heart that I leave my second home and my second family… Goodbye! », murmurs Francis Maréchal.

Daniel HAS

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