Virginie Kimpe

With the help of her teacher Roger Vannier, a fifteen-year-old girl chooses a cello by Luc Muselet, a copy of a model by Paul Bailly (1844-1907). She studied the cello at the Lille Conservatory and the workshop of the cello maker was nearby. He agreed to let her visit him regularly and was lucky enough to see the instrument take shape before her eyes.

This young girl is Virginie Kimpe. After her Baccalaureate D, she put aside her cello to devote herself to her higher studies, but she was happy to find it again more than thirty years later and to take lessons with Guillemette Hueber. However, she chose to acquire a 7/8th cello, a size that suited her better, and once again abandoned the instrument of her youth.

It was during the masterclasses given by Marc-Didier Thirault at the Académie musicale d’Amboise that Virginie met several young cellists benefitting from loans from Talents & Violon’celles: Bo Geun Park, Pauline Letombe, Elsa Lemoine, Emma Derosier. “I saw them working like crazy twelve hours a day! I also saw how much care they took with their loaned instrument. I then asked about Talents & Violon’celles, and it seemed obvious to me that my Muselet should benefit young people like them instead of sleeping in its case », underlines Virginie, who decided to entrust her instrument to T&V in 2021.

“I have the pleasure of playing on a quality instrument that belongs to me, and these young people are deprived of it because quality comes at a high price. Not only does T&V lend them instruments that are worthy of their talent, but it also allows them to change instruments, which is a great opportunity for them. I’m really happy to contribute.”