François Ribac 16-03-1961 – 06-11-2024
It is with immense sadness that I write these lines. François passed away on 6 November 2024 at the age of 63. At the same time, I am infinitely grateful and happy for the 34 years we lived together, for his endless love, for the work we did together in music and theatre, for his artistic strength and for his deeply feminist attitude
François was able to finish and publish his latest book online: Arts de la Scène et Musique dans l’Anthropocène.
At the same time, we have posted the digital version of our new CD on BandcampQUI EST FOU ? Which will soon be available on all streaming platforms and on CD.
François had found many interests and many means of expression. He was a rock and jazz bassist and guitarist, a composer of stage music and music for film.
In 1995, we founded a theater company together, and since then, created 7 operas, 1 Cine-Concert, and 3 major hybrid projects. Over the past ten years, François had also become interested in working with mixed groups of professional and amateur artists.
For example, “Tout un monde de Strat(e)s”—created in 2013 in La Rochelle—was a tribute to George Harrison with 70 musicians on stage.
For example, in 2019, “Le Grand Orchestre de la Transition”. A project in which different groups of amateurs, accompanied by professional artists, imagined the city of Dijon in 2039, 20 years after climate change.
Since the late 1990s, François wanted to delve deeper into the themes that mattered to him as a composer through university study. In 2008, he wrote a doctoral thesis in sociology, focusing on the scientific and technical genealogy of recording studios. Since 2012, he had also worked in academic and institutional settings: the University of Dijon and IRCAM, conducting diverse research related to music in the Anthropocene. This research resulted in a wide range of publications, from “La Valeur du Rock” in 2004 to “Arts de la Scène et Musique dans l’Anthropocène” in 2024.
He would very gladly have continued his reflection on “the ways in which stage and musical vocabularies can (or cannot) create spaces where all—amateurs as well as professionals—can imagine other possible worlds and contribute to their existence.”
But he had to leave us far too soon.
He is deeply missed.
Eva Schwabe
A big thank you to all those who came in such large numbers to the event in tribute to François Ribac on November 30, 2024 in Paris. Speeches that were given and videos that were showed have been compiled here: Hommage à François
