The project
Since 2018, Orchestre Ostinato has demonstrated the benefits of musical practice in fighting precarity and isolation. Its project, In Music for More Humanity, aims to strengthen self-esteem, cohesion, listening, and trust among highly vulnerable audiences.
The Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund, always attentive and committed to supporting vulnerable people, has backed the project nearly since its second edition.
Previous editions have brought together over 200 different artists who performed at the Grand Palais Éphémère in 2022, the Maison de la Mutualité in 2023, and the Musée d’Orsay in 2025.
For the 5th edition in 2025, two simultaneous initiatives will take place in two penitentiary institutions:
20 singing workshops at Fleury-Mérogis prison, led by choir director Morgane Billet and pianist Ernestine Bluteau, culminating in three performances for male and female inmates.
14 musical theatre workshops at La Santé prison, under the direction of stage director Bénédicte Budan, concluding with one performance.
The performances are scheduled as follows:
At La Santé prison on November 20, 2025
At Fleury-Mérogis prison on December 2 and 3, 2025
By renewing its support, the Francis Kurkdjian Endowment Fund continues to champion projects for vulnerable populations, highlights music’s power as a vector for social resilience, and reaffirms its mission to foster art that is inclusive, supportive, and deeply human.
Founded in 1997 under the patronage of Manuel Rosenthal, the Orchestre-Atelier Ostinato provides its 90 young instrumentalists with specific training in the profession of orchestral musician. As a "springboard orchestra", it is the only youth orchestra to pay its musicians, who are students of the best conservatories, thus placing them as close as possible to professional conditions and requirements and offering access to excellence.