ANDRÉ STERN - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Author. Speaker. Ambassador for Children
''André Stern's creation is our humanity, hopes and exhaustion and dreams again... and our divine part saved by love, pure, far from solitudes."
Claude Jeancolas, author, journalist
"Whoever is interested in the eternal debate about education and pedagogy should put André Stern's book on his shelf".
ZDF Aspekte (Germany)
"An exciting experiment - with surprising results".
Stern Magazin (Germany)
"André Stern is the forerunner of a new way of life".
Deutschlandfunk Kultur
"With a beautiful and sacred seriousness, Stern reminds us of a condition of human development that is too easily forgotten, although everyone has experienced it. It is a condition that we should keep in mind when designing our cities and educational institutions."
Elke Schmitter, DER SPIEGEL (August 2016)
Extended Biography
Childhood, guitar
Born in 1971 in Paris, son of researcher and educator Arno Stern, author and international speaker, André Stern grew up without any schooling. He learned to play the guitar at the age of four from the flamenco player Antonio Fenoy. From an in-depth exploration of the history of music, the classical repertoire and the original flamenco repertoire, he developed a personal playing and creative technique. His career as a composer and performer began at the age of 17.
Music, dance, shows, theater
Two years later, with the dancer and choreographer Delphine Joubert, he founded the Atelier de Création Chorégraphique et Musicale FUSION in Paris. It is within this Atelier that he develops, together with Delphine Joubert, the original modalities of what will become his specialty: the creation of music for live performance. With electroclassic (of which he is the founder), André Stern initiated a new genre around the classical guitar. He creates and performs all kinds of music: for dance, within the ACCM Fusion; for the theater, through his meeting with the author and director Giancarlo Ciarapica, as well as through his work as musical director of the Compagnie Kaléidoscope Bleu, in Paris.
From 1996 to 2002, André Stern was part of the organizing team of the first 6 editions of the Festival Theatre-Dance-Music-Poetry "3 semaines en mars" in Paris at "Les Frigos, 91, Quai de la Gare".
From 2004 to 2014, André Stern directed, with Giancarlo Ciarapica, the Théâtre de la Tortue, in Toulouse. It is within this framework, and in the prolongation of the meeting with the actress Pauline Latournerie, that many creations around the voices of women are born: Salomé, Louise Michel, Camille Claudel etc. These shows are presented as a daily theatrical marathon, several years in a row, at the Avignon Festival Off. André Stern has, today, several hundred creations to his credit, and more than 1500 performances in many countries.
Lutherie
In parallel, the meeting with the Swiss master luthier Werner Schär, in 1993, opened new ways for the development of André Stern's musical work: as a luthier, collaborating with his master, he elaborates both the music and the guitars adapted to each performance. While making instruments specifically adapted to the needs of musicians who entrust him with the construction of their instruments. He specializes in instruments with more than six strings (6+1, 7 strings) and falls in love with the decacorde, the 10-string guitar, of which he becomes one of the rare specialists.
Journalism, editor, books
His combined passions for music, guitar, lutherie and writing gave him the opportunity to become a specialized journalist and then editor-in-chief of the magazine Guitare Live.
In 2009, with the publication of his first book in German language by Zabert-Sandmann ("...und ich war nie in der Schule" - 2009 - 6th edition), the career as an author of his childhood dreams begins. André Stern wrote many books, written in French and/or German, regularly bestsellers, published in seven languages (French, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian etc.)
Lectures, scientific convergence, movie
2009 also saw the beginning of his exclusive commitment to childhood, with, each year, around 100 public events for a total of more than 40,000 participants - as well as intense activity in the media. Some decisive meetings give a considerable impulse to his work: the one with Prof. Dr. Gerald Hüther, researcher in advanced neurobiology, and the one with the Austrian film couple Sabine and Erwin Wagenhofer. He is one of the protagonists of their film ''Alphabet'', (Erwin Wagenhofer previously directed ''We feed the world'' and ''Let's make money'') and co-author of the eponymous book (Ecowin editions - 2013).
Écologie de l'enfance / Ambassador for Children
Initiated by André Stern, the movement Ecology of Childhood was officially launched at the 1st International Congress of the same name on October 3, 2014 in Montreal. A few years later, he took on the role of ambassador for childhood in order to bring the voice of the child to various institutions, for example as an expert invited by the Ministry of Solidarity and Health to participate in the commission of the first 1000 days of childhood (in France), or to various political and associative movements in France and internationally. He is a two-time TEDx speaker.
Team
A team of enthusiasts has crystallized around his commitment to children: its main members today are Pauline Stern, his first collaborator, Silvia Faye Buchbauer, his agent for German-speaking countries, Aleksander and Dominika Baj, in charge of Poland and English-speaking countries, Charlotte Cauchies for Canada, Izabella Reman for Hungary, Irène Maeder, in charge of translations - and many others.
Arno Stern
During all these years (since 1989), André Stern has worked closely with his father, Arno Stern. As Head of the Arno Stern Institute (Laboratory for the Observation and Preservation of the Spontaneous Dispositions of the Child), together with his sister Eléonore Stern and their mother Michèle Stern, he ensures the influence, preservation and continuity of Arno Stern's work and scientific and pedagogical legacy.
Private life
André Stern is married and has two children. His work in the media, his lecturing activities in universities, to education professionals and to the general public respond to a growing interest on the part of all those who, from near or far, live and work with children - or who have been children themselves.
Photos by:
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Véronique Taupin
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Marc Bernot
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Sebastian Bluteau
Find a photo gallery on Flickr by clicking here
Children are natural learners, yet so many of them tire of learning as they go through school. One reason is that the rituals of education don't resonate with the rhythms of their curiosity. André Stern is the embodiment of natural learning and achievement. A renowned artist, educator and loving parent, he shows how all children can flourish when we understand more deeply both how they learn and why and provide the best conditions for their growth and development."
Sir Ken Robinson
