Benjamin Macke was born in 1983 in the North of France. He began his career as a musician with classical percussion and jazz drums before discovering at 18 the diatonic accordion which he learned as an autodidact and through meetings. He made it his profession in 2005 putting his accordion at the service of very varied projects :
Shillelagh since 2002, trio of folk ball stamped "dance music from Flanders and elsewhere" with Gabriel Lenoir (fiddle) and Aurélien Tanghe (guitar).
Duo Macke-Bornauw since 2008, with Birgit Bornauw (Flemish bagpipe and baroque bagpipe). They met each others around traditional music and folk ball but since 2014 they have offered a concert in baroque colors with It's Baroque to my Ears and its logical sequence Curly Music.
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Septembre since 2019, a theatrical and musical show dealing with mourning and disappearance in the world of sponge fishermen in Greece with the actresses Géraldine Bogaert and Claudia Bruno.
Compagnie Macke-Bornauw
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Compagnie Macke-Bornauw was created in August 2016 to oversee the activities of two influential artists in of traditional music in Europe : Birgit Bornauw (bagpipes) and Benjamin Macke (diatonic accordion).
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Biographies
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Le Ciné-concert de Poche since 2010, a solo movie-concert with a 16mm projectors, American comedies, cartoons from Eastern Europe, westerns, children's stories...
La Maîtresse des Ombres since 2016, a meeting between the movie-concert and the tale with Sandrine Gniady based on Lotte Reiniger's short movies.
Easy Street since 2018, a movie-concert that he composed for harmony orchestra, based on this Charlie Chaplin classic.
The Amazing Airbags since 2018, children's bagpipe orchestra conducted by Birgit Bornauw.
Les Contes à 1000 Gueules since 2007, in the world of coal mining, with Pascal Duclermortier (tale) and Gabriel Lenoir (fiddle).
Teaching is also an important part of his work. He taught accordion and ensemble playing at Cric-Crac Compagnie, the Muziekacademie of Gooik and Ghent. He also gives a lot of workshops all over Europe : accordion, ensemble, improvisation on silent films...
Benjamin Macke is also known for his work around the footbass, a funny accordion that is played with the feet and produces very low sounds. He works on the revival of this obsolete instrument in close collaboration with his factor Jean-Marie Paque.
Curious and touching on everything, we could hear Benjamin Macke with eclectic artists: La Nopce Champêtre, baroque octet around Marieke Van Ransbeeck (baroque musette), Une Aventure de Tom Sawyer, radio fiction by Radio-France, around David Chevallier (guitar), Benjamin Macke 4tet with Christophe "Pher" Motury (flugelhorn), Jean-Christophe Cheneval (vibraphone) and Aurélien Tanghe (double bass), the movie-concert Odna with Anne Frèches (vocals) and Raphaël De Cock (music Siberian), the direction of l'Orchestre Insolite with disabled musicians, the co-direction of the Transboarder Orchestra with 20 French and Belgian musicians, Le Duo Bastringue, unusual meeting between folk ball and ball musette with Philippe Destanque (guitar) and Rachel Bazoge (vocals)...
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Discography :
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Shillelagh : Hemels Douwe (Compagnie Macke-Bornauw - 2017)
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Duo Macke-Bornauw : It's Baroque to my Ears (Bémol Productions - 2016)
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Shillelagh : le Vagabond (Bémol Productions - 2013)
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Benjamin Macke : Un Instrument, un artiste : l'Accordéon diatonique (Bémol Productions - 2012)
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Le Duo Bastringue & Rachel Bazoge : l'Arbre à danses (Bémol Productions - 2010)
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Shillelagh : Germaine (Bémol Productions - 2009)
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Le Duo Bastringue : Bruit qui danse (Bémol Productions - 2007)
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Shillelagh : Danses sur l'eau (Bémol Productions - 2006)
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Shillelagh : Musique à danser (Autoproduction - 2004)
Birgit Bornauw was born in 1981 in Belgium in Asse in Flemish Brabant. After practicing the classical violin at the Music Academy, Birgit discovered the bagpipe at 15 with traditional musicians from the area of Gooik. Then she became passionate about the different musical traditions of Europe by increasing the number of discoveries at world music festivals. At the same time, she trained with several musicians to perfect her technique before returning to the Lemmens Institut of Leuven to study baroque bagpipe. With her Master in hand and after an appearance in the 18th century orchestra of Frans Brüggen, she devoted herself to traditional music by taking part in various remarkable adventures such as the BBGE (Belgian Bagpipe Groove Experience), Transpiradansa and of course the Griff Trio with Rémi Decker and Raphaël De Cock with whom she played for over 10 years all over the world.
We currently find her in several groups :
Duo Macke-Bornauw since 2008, with Benjamin Macke (diatonic accordion and footbass). They met each others around traditional music and folk ball but since 2014 they have offered a concert in baroque colors with It's Baroque to my Ears and its logical sequence Curly Music.
The Amazing Airbags since 2018, children's bagpipe orchestra conducted by her.
Bon matin ! with Hoëla Barbedette (Celtic harp and voice), Juliette Collache (Celtic harp and voice) and Marinette Bonnert (accordion). It's a concert and ball group which takes up the repertoire of the musicians's four origin regions, Brittany, Poitou, Wallonia and Flanders.
Birgit is a passionate and dedicated teacher to her students. She currently teaches bagpipes, ensemble playing and the history of music at the Conservatories of Ghent and Ieper. She also gives workshops everywhere in Europe.
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Discography :
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Duo Macke-Bornauw : It's Baroque to my Ears (Bémol Productions - 2016)
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Bon Matin : En Avant 4! (Bémol Productions - 2011)
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Griff 6tet : The False Fly (Variole - 2011)
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Griff trio : Astragu (Variole - 2010)
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Transpiradansa : (Appel Records - 2009)
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Transpiradansa (Appel Records - 2007)
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Griff (Appell Records - 2004)