29 Jan-13 Feb 2005. This is the 15th year of this annual festival of contemporary music traditionally held at the Maison de Radio France, in Olivier Messiaen Hall and Charles Trenet Studio. The Festival Prsences, a celebration of creativity, is a focal point of the musical calendar in Paris. This years schedule includes 23 free concerts, works by 56 composers, 39 world-music creations, 18 French performances and 17 concerts organised by Radio France. Putting the spotlight on the future of the composer-performer in order to inject new life into the tradition, the Festival Presences 2005 concentrates on creators who are also performers. These include instrumentalists (Thierry Escaich, an organist), conductors (Magnus Lindberg, Marc-Andre Dalbavie), or both instrumentalist and conductor (Thomas Ades, a conductor and pianist). Previous festivals have showcased work from Emmanuel Nunes, Hugues Dufourt, Martin Matalon, Philippe Schoeller and Alexandros Markeas.

From 17 to 20 February, the Festival Presences will be followed by Presences electronique, a festival dedicated to electronic music.