The gaze that Julien Martineau rests on his mandolin is clear-eyed yet passionate, silencing all popular clichés about the instrument: while the mandolin may be known to the wider public for only a few well-known pieces, its repertoire is actually enormous, reaching from the baroque to the present day, and full of treasures for whoever has the will to explore it and liberate it from its family of plucked stringed instruments. Julien Martineau certainly has that spirit of adventure: his pioneering sense of enthusiasm and sharp-eared musicianly awareness make him embrace the uniqueness of his instrument and perceive its wide horizons. Invited to take part in the ‘Victoires de la musique classique’ ceremony in 2017, he will be making his solo debut with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in December 2018. His concert appearances with – among others – the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, the Ensemble Pygmalion, the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn, and the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra, have enabled him to highlight not only the virtuosity but also the delicacy of his instrument, as have his recitals at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Grand Théâtre de Provence, the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, the Victoria Hall at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the ‘Folle Journée’ in Nantes, Russia and Japan.