Carte blanche to Gaëtan Roussel

Concert and open stage for poetry and slam

21.03.2026

Artists
Esther Abrami
Kofi Achina
Bastien Burger
Andrea D'Anna
Dario De Angelis
Eleonora Fisco
Jesko Habert
Kev Kennedy
Gentian Kiri
Mauro Lamantia
Elio Lislerud
Giuliano Logos
Olympia
Reyn Ouwehand
Lina Pallotta
Jonida Prifti
Gaëtan Roussel

In celebration of spring, Villa Medici invites singer and musician Gaëtan Roussel for a Carte Blanche evening blending music and poetry!

The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici presents Carte blanche to Gaëtan Roussel, an event that brings together a concert and performative poetry in an evening conceived for both the Roman and international public. On Saturday, March 21, 2026, from 4:45 pm to 7:00 pm, the belvedere of Villa Medici, one of the most striking panoramic viewpoints in the capital, will host an open-air event that brings into dialogue live music, poetic language, and performance.

The initiative stems from an invitation extended to Gaëtan Roussel, singer-songwriter and musician among the most influential figures of the contemporary French music scene, widely known as the co-founder and lead voice of Louise Attaque. For this carte blanche, Roussel has created an original program bringing together musicians and poets from several European countries, giving rise to an artistic encounter in which different languages and generations engage with one another within a shared creative space. Together with his musicians Reyn Ouwehand and Bastien Burger, Roussel presents a performance conceived especially for Villa Medici through a concert with the evocative title J’t’emmène au printemps (“I’ll take you into spring”), guiding the audience on a musical journey between rock energy, intimate atmospheres, and moments of improvisation on this first day of spring.

Joining them is Esther Abrami, a violinist and composer among the most widely followed performers of the new generation of international classical music. Trained at the Royal College of Music in London and already featured in prestigious venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Musikverein, Abrami is one of the most innovative figures on today’s musical scene.

The evening opens with an introduction by the New York’s photographer Lina Pallotta, followed by an open stage of poetry and poetry slam, moderated by Italian poet and performer Giuliano Logos, the first Italian Poetry Slam World Champion (Paris, 2021) and founder of the collective WOW – Incendi Spontanei. A key figure in European performance poetry, Logos has brought his voice to festivals, theatres, and public spaces across numerous countries, developing a practice that intertwines poetry, civic engagement, and new technologies.

Alongside him, several of the most compelling voices from the European slam scene will take the stage, including the collective Questa Cosa Queer and its founder Olympia (Italy), joined by Andrea D’Anna, Dario De Angelis and Mauro Lamantia, as well as Kofi Achina (United Kingdom), Eleonora Fisco (Italy), Jesko Habert (Germany), Elio Lislerud (Norway), and Kev Kennedy (Ireland), creating an open and dynamic moment of poetic sharing in which the spoken word becomes performance, rhythm, and dialogue with the audience.

This event is organized with the generous support of Damien Bachelot.

PROGRAM

4:45–6 pm: Open stage for poetry and slam
Introduction: Lina Pallotta
Moderator: Giuliano Logos (Italy, WOW – Incendi Spontanei).
Guest artists: Kofi Achina (UK), Eleonora Fisco (Italy), Jesko Habert (Germany), Elio Lislerud (Norway), Kev Kennedy (Ireland), Questa Cosa Queer (Italy).

6pm–7pm: Jt’emmène au printemps (I’ll take you to spring)
Concert by Gaëtan Roussel, Reyn Ouwehand and Bastien Burger with guest violinist Esther Abrami.

Gaëtan Roussel
Gaëtan Roussel (b. 1974, Rodez, France) is a singer-songwriter and musician. A major figure on the contemporary French music scene, he is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the group Louise Attaque, whose singular songwriting and hybrid aesthetic have had a lasting impact on French-language music since the late 1990s.

Alongside his work with the group, Gaëtan Roussel is developing a personal body of work characterized by a taste for experimentation and collaboration. His career spans solo projects, compositions for film and theater, and musical research in which song dialogues with image, stage and performance. Her work is part of a constant reflection on the collective dimension of creation, conceiving music as a space for circulation, encounter and shared invention.

Listen to Gaëtan Roussel, La photo
Esther Abrami
Esther Abrami, violinist and composer, has revolutionized classical music, making it accessible to younger generations with her modern approach. Followed by over a million people on social networks, she has won over a wide audience with her interpretations of Bach and Mendelssohn. A graduate of London’s Royal College of Music, she signed a contract with Sony even before completing her studies, and has already released three albums, including Women, a tribute to forgotten female composers.

She performs in prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall and Musikverein, and this year announces her first Olympia. Outside music, she embodies a new generation of artists, combining fashion and music, as an ambassador for luxury brands such as Zenith and Messika. Her podcast Women in Classical spotlights influential women in the music industry, and she regularly hosts masterclasses.

Esther Abrami plays an 1857 violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, on loan from Beare’s International Violin Society.
Giuliano Logos
Poet, performer, socially engaged artist and Italy’s first world slam poetry champion (Paris, 2021), he has brought his voice and Italian poetry to festivals, theatres, universities and streets, touring Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia in collaboration with embassies and cultural institutions. Founder of the WOW – Incendi Spontanei collective, his research combines poetry, civic engagement and new technologies (AI/VR). He was selected by the joint editorial teams of Vanity Fair Italy, France and Spain as one of the 30 ‘artists, activists and pioneers’ shaping the future of Europe.
Lina Pallotta
Lina Pallota (lives and works in Rome as a photographer, and a teacher. She graduated in “Photojournalism and Documentary” at the International Center of Photography (ICP), NYC. Over the years she received several grants her works are part of private and public collections.