Alain Roudier – fortepianist / Collectie Ad Libitum Alain Roudier – fortepianist Born in Paris in 1955, Alain Roudier made his classical studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Mme Bascourret de Gueraldi. In 1983, he studied with Alain Planès, then from 1985 to 1988 with Menahem Pressler in Bloomington (USA). Pianist, organologist, Alain Roudier plays on orignal instruments from 1790, which trace the unique of musical instrument making. He gives numerous concerts in Europe and USA on his original instruments as well as lectures. Alain Roudier has received the Prix Mazzotti in 2004 for the ensemble of his work. Alain Roudier is the initiator of Ad Libitum – collection of period fortepiano’s, atelier, documentation and research centre Ad Libitum – an association Created in 1993, the Ad Libitum association aims to promote the instrumental and musical heritage that is the pianoforte, from about the early seventeenth to the late ninetennth century. With a collection of nearly 80 instruments, the association has become over the years an international reference for the historical pianos. These instruments are restored and maintained by the workshop and retain most of their original parts. They are regulary played and displayed in concerts or exhibitions. Research and education are also at the heart of Ad Libitum activities. Many books have been published about instruments, factors and their businesses and many records have been made. Each year, the association organizes an academy, enabling professional and amateur musicians to discover the collection’s instruments, their sounds and touches. The Instruments Ad Libitum’s collection includes original instruments dating from the early seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. It offers a detailed illustration of the richest and most inventive period of the piano’s history, as a sound and aesthetic point of view than technical. These instruments are mostly in playing condition, which makes them very rare examples of a sound heritage whose richness surprises and upsets today. The sound of the piano as we know it today is the result of technical innovations realized both in order to play harder, streamline construction and upgrade from craft production to industrial production. This is probably due to these progresses that the piano has become the king of instruments, but what has been gained in volume and cost of production was lost in acoustic diversity. Each piece in the Ad Libitum’s collection finds its place as a witness of a particular sound personality and a key moment in the history of the piano. Documentary holdings Collected over the years, the archives have enabled Ad Libitum to acquire highly sophisticated knowledge about the history of the pianomaking and its main protagonists: factors, pianists or composers. Correspondence, paintings, drawings, music scores, registers or other objects, are the witnesses of constant research and new discoveries, whose results are made public through the publication of several books. Ad Libitum Geelvinck Fortepiano Festival 2016: Alain Roudier will participate at the 6th edition of the Geelvinck Fortepiano Festival, as member of the Jury of the competition for young talents, as well as with a performance of Schubert on 13 October in the Pianola Museum.