Jean Sturm (born
April 5, 1946 in Strasbourg, France) has been directing choirs since the age of 15. His musical
activity in the service of choral singing is that of a passionate amateur seeking the competence of
professionals. Founder in 1969, and Director of the Ensemble Vocal Allegro of Strasbourg until June 2006, he
was a student of César Geoffray for choral conducting and of Jean-François Paillard for orchestra conducting.
For more than 40 years, he has been a trainer of the A Coeur Joie Choral movement and the Centre d'Art Polyphonique
d'Alsace, and is a regular speaker at international events.
A Coeur Joie regional director for Alsace from 1978 to 1986, he was at the origin, then the linchpin of the "Europa Cantat 9" festival which brought together 4,300 singers from 33 countries for 14 days in Strasbourg in 1985 and which was the most striking event of the European Year of Music in the field of choral singing.
He gained international notoriety through his commitment to the development of the multilingual multimedia database of choral music MUSICA which he conceived in 1982 at the Centre d'Art Polyphonique d'Alsace and which has become a major project of world choral life. He is currently the Executive Director of the MUSICA International association which manages the project.
Jean Sturm holds a Ph.D
in Science. He was a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) from 1970
to 2011.
He continues to collaborate with the Institute of Phonetics of the University of Strasbourg, in connection
with the Musica International project.
Awards:
▪ CNRS bronze medal in 1976, for his
research in macromolecular physicochemistry
▪ Youth and Sport Ministry bronze medal in 1986, following the organization of Europa Cantat 9
▪ 2000 laureate of the "Alsace Foundation" for the Musica International project – (All the details)
▪ Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters – year 2014 (All the details)
See also (in french only) : Homage of the Ensemble Vocal Allegro to Jean Sturm