Marguerite France was born in Paris into a family of musicians comprised of instrumentalists, singers, as well as a head of choir of the Paris Opera. Her mother was a violinist and pupil of Vincent d'Indy, while her father drew from a heritage of Hungarian and gypsy musical traditions. At the age of three she began to play the violin, piano and practice solfege
later she was enrolled in l'Ecole Cesar Franck (founded by disciples of the composer in reaction to the creation of Vincent d'Indy's Schola Cantorum). She won first prizes at the competitions of Bellan and Nerini.
After this she went on to study at the Conservatoire de Paris under the tutelage of Pierre NERINI (violin), Andre JOUVENSAL (alto), and Raymond GALLOIS-MONTBRUN (chamber music and orchestral conducting), where she obtained honourable first place prizes in each of the three disciplines
It was at the age of thirteen that she was admitted to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, from which she graduated with first place prizes in viola (Etienne GINOT), specialized solfege (Rene DUCLOS),
harmony and counterpoint (Henri CHALLAN and Georges HUGON), and chamber music (Etienne PASQUIER and Gaston POULET). After graduation she perfected her violin skills under Marcel RAYNAL and Gaston POULET
and then at the Conservatoire de Geneve where she obtained first place in virtuosity (Ron GOLAN). Finally, she won second place at the Concours International d' Execution Musicale de Geneve.
Marguerite France holds diplomas from the Schola Cantorum de Paris (Leon BARZIN) in both orchestral and choral conducting.
She began a career as a chamber musician and performed regularly as a soloist, before entering the l'Orchestre Suisse Romande under the direction of Ernest ANSERMET and Wolfgang SAWALLISCH, where she remained up until 1975 when she left Europe for Japan. For eight years she played with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, before dedicating herself to the development of French music in Japan.
Her taste for this country goes back to her childhood. Her collaborations during the course of her studies with Japanese musicians confirmed her attraction. She then met a Japanese student of French literature (whom she married and with whom she has two children), before leaving Geneva for Tokyo, to the disappointment of her Swiss colleagues and family
Parallel with her orchestral position with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, she applied for professorial posts and taught at the Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku. She still holds teaching positions at Musashino and Tamagawa.
Her encounters with Henriette PUIG-ROGET and Kazuko YASUKAWA have made her conscious of certain weaknesses in the teaching of occidental art/music in Japan. She has consequently developed a cycle of conferences and educational concerts to deal with this lack of knowledge that gravitates around the teaching of occidental music, and it was for the end of normalising this teaching of European music that she created her society.
Les Editions Chanteclair incorporates five domains: a study abroad program for Japanese students wishing to study in France, a music school, the importation of anything to do with the musical field, intensive seminar courses abroad, and a musical edition. Where study abroad is concerned, Chanteclair advises young musicians in their choice of professors and schools in France, and introduces a contact in France to aid in the process of settling in. The student is prepared in Japan by ensuring that they have the necessary level of competence in solfege and in their respective instrument, through the school of music and itŐs professors, all either French or having studied in France. This school of music, Solfran, suits itself to all residents of Tokyo, whether Japanese or not, who wish to be taught in the French tradition; it focuses on the instrument and basic musical formation, and groups musicians together on the occasion of numerous performances. The offered courses assure a solid instrumental formation through the teaching of solfege, musical notation, the history of music and art (using audio visual means), and chamber music, as rarely studied in Japan. The school also offers courses in Chansons Francaises of the twentieth century. Finally, Chanteclair occupies itself with the import of musical accessories that cannot be found in Japan, of import CDs, and of partitions that are difficult to find anywhere outside of Europe. Moreover, trips to intensive seminar courses in France every year, during March and August, allow the Japanese student to familiarize him/herself with the French musical milieu.
The activities of chamber musician and soloist Marguerite France tie into the Association Franco-Japonaise des Amis de La Musique (AFJAM). AFJAM is an extension of the music school Solfran. It was effectively necessary to separate the teaching of music from the cultural/musical performances of the former, to guarantee quality. Always under the encouragement of Henriette PUIS-ROGET, Kazuko YASUKAWA, and the President of Honour and wife to the former ambassador to France in Japan, Arabelle Ouvrieu, AFJAM has since its creation in 1997, become a tool for the diffusion of European music and its historical/cultural context. It organises events centering on music, including also opera, ballet, and symphonic performances; these productions are regularly accompanied by historical conferences and by thematic master classes with French artists (Olivier GARDON, Gerard POULET...).
More notably, AFJAM organized the production of Verdi's opera Rigoletto (based on Victor Hugo's play, "Le Roi s'amuse"), for the bicentennial celebration of Victor Hugo's birth. On the centennial occasion of Alphonse Daudet's death, "l'Arlesienne" was staged as a theater piece with the accompanying original music by Georges Bizet.
AFJAM also manages the Ritae Ensemble and the Orchestre Philharmonique Ritae for their own performances, and organizes concerts for French celebrations (including 14 July, "fete de la musique"...).
In the long run, AFJAM hopes to prolong and extend its development through the promotion of Japanese artists in France and the exchange of artists between the two countries, with the goal of establishing a true cultural sharing between the two countries to ameliorate the mutual knowledge that consists between them.
It was with this purpose in mind that AFJAM organized the coming of the ensemble of Koto players of Miyagi Kai, in 2003, to play at the Salle Gaveau, Paris.
from 2004th, AFJAM is in Partnership with the Delegation of the European Commission in Japan !