Creative Dialogue France follows the educational concept developed by Anssi Karttunen, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho in 2007. The workshop brings together young performers and composers as close as possible to the moment of creation. In this unique setting, the technical, artistic and emotional challenges that arise are solved together under the supervision of their experienced colleagues.

In the Music Schools and Conservatories, musicians learn most of the important aspects of their profession from their teachers, but the area of learning from each other during the process of creation is often not addressed enough. This is why Creative Dialogue is necessary.

The young composers write pieces during the workshop, which are developed together with the young performers and performed during concerts. The faculty do not act as traditional teachers, but are rather available to share their experience with the young musicians in a practical situation. Learning to know the minds of the young composers helps to imagine the how the minds of historical composers worked, and the composers are able to learn what is important in communicating their ideas to performers.

Composers are also asked to perform in their own works to give them practical experience about the challenges of preparing their own music for performance. In parallel, the performers work on central chamber music repertoire together with the members of thee faculty, giving a historical perspective to the new pieces. Improvisation workshops are also an important part of Creative Dialogue France.

The intensive workshop serves as an immersion into the creative process, and often proves to be an eye-opening experience for all participants. Most participants find their musical lives to be forever widened, and many new collaborations and ensembles have been created thanks to Creative Dialogue.

After a two-week workshop at the beautiful venue of the Château de Beauchêne, Creative Dialogue France hosted a concert, which featured original works developped by the programme participants. 

Creative Dialogue France is a continuation of previous Creative Dialogue workshops, which were held in the United States and Finland, in collaboration with Sibelius Academy of Helsinki and some of the most famous musical institutions of the Northern Hemisphere: Juilliard School, Yale University, Colombia University, CNSM de Paris, HEM de Géneve and the Royal Academy of Music of London.