PIANO AND CO was founded in Marseille, France in 2003 by pianist Nathalie NÉGRO.
In 2021, PIANO AND CO became the first musical company in the Provence-Alpes-Côte D’Azur region led by a woman to be recognized by the French Ministry of Culture.
The company is dedicated to contemporary music creation and its artistic activities revolve around creation, transmission, distribution, research, and innovation. Most recently, the company developed a mentoring program for artists.
PIANO AND CO is equally committed to the promotion of the contemporary music repertoire and to the renewal of its artistic expression, particularly through mixing different genres and techniques, such as digital tools, visual arts, traditional music, and urban poetry. The company’s main objectives are to raise awareness and to develop new audiences for contemporary music through projects that bring together amateur and professional musicians.
Artistic director Nathalie NÉGRO has a long practice of artistic and cultural actions in diverse environments, including schools, universities, social organizations, medical institutions, and correctional facilities. Her productions are performed regularly at national cultural venues.
In recent years, the company has led multi-partner European projects based on contemporary music that always include musical practice (workshops, masterclasses), research, and distribution. These European projects always have strong connections to new and emerging technologies.
For instance, in 2017, PIANO AND CO created the Europe in C project structured around the famous piece by the American composer Terry RILEY. Europe in C fostered mobility and created a collective, digital, and open musical practice. The project was supported by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme and involved conservatories, universities, and research centres in Italy, Greece, Germany, Belgium, and France.
PIANO AND CO is currently working on the project MUSICAL BOUNCE BACK: Promoting the role of women in music and connecting for a new pedagogy, with the objective of highlighting and enhancing the role of women in contemporary musical creation.
In addition to these projects, the company is also involved in the research and innovation process to develop a prototype application for the musical education sector.
As the only French institution equipped with the LoLa system (Low Latency), a high-quality, low latency audio/video transmission system, PIANO AND CO creates projects using this ground-breaking tool that enables remote rehearsals with no latency.