OPENING
Saturday, 15 October, Sava Center, 20.30    
ENSEMBLE ORCHESTRAL DE PARIS & ACCENTUS CHAMBER CHOIR
Conductor Laurence Equilbey
Mireille Delunsch, soprano
Matthew Brook, baritone     
Berlioz: Tristia – Religious meditation, for choir and orchestra, Op. 18/1
Berlioz: The Death of Cleopatra, for soprano and orchestra
Fauré: Requiem, for soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra
Ticket prices: 500, 1.500, 2.000 din.

ENSEMBLE ORCHESTRAL DE PARIS

Founded in 1978, the Ensemble orchestral de Paris with its 43 musicians is the leading chamber orchestra in France. The originality of its concerts, its intimate chamber music approach to repertoires, as well as its pursuit of new venues and challenges for teaching and cultural projects, all make the Ensemble orchestral de Paris unique in the Parisian musical landscape.
Following successive musical directors, Jean-Pierre Wallez, Armin Jordan, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and John Nelson (appointed Honorary Music Director), associate artists were brought on board in 2009 : Joseph Swensen, Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor; the accentus chamber choir, directed by Laurence Equilbey; Deborah Nemtanu, solo violin; and the composers James McMillan and Thierry Escaich.
The Ensemble orchestral de Paris works with leading artists like Heinrich Schiff, Louis Langrée, Maxim Vengerov, Fabio Bondi, Thomas Zehetmair, Douglas Boyd, Brigitte Engerer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Labèque sisters, Paul Lewis, Emmanuel Pahud, Sir Roger Norrington, Stephen Kovacevich,Vadim Repin, Roger Muraro, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, François Leleux and Alison Balsom among others.
In addition to its season at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and several Parisian concerts at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Cité de la Musique, Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Ensemble’s reputation continues to grow both in and outside France, with its programme including: tours (Japan, Europe, South America, etc.); concerts (Lucerne, Bratislava) and leading festivals (Festival de Radio-France Montpellier, Folles Journées, Festival de Saint-Denis, Enescu Festival in Bucarest, Belgrade or Bratislava Festivals, etc.).
Over the past 10 years, the Ensemble orchestral de Paris has also made a name for itself in the studio with over 20 recordings bearing eloquent testimony to its voice, oratorio, chamber orchestra, and contemporary music repertoires. Some striking examples include Bach’s Mass in B minor performed at the Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral (DVD); Beethoven’s complete piano concertos with François-René Duchâble at the Opéra royal de Versailles (DVD); Beethoven’s complete symphonies directed by John Nelson (CD); Saint-Saëns’s concertos with Brigitte Engerer and Henri Demarquette (CD); Chopin’s piano concertos with Boris Berezovsky (CD).
The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris embraces an ethical and socially responsible outlook, expressed around four types of goals: educational, territorial, solidarity, and occupational integration. This civic spirit is particularly at play in the city of Paris where the orchestra regularly organizes artistic mini-residences consisting in cultural and educational actions. Making ourselves available to all audiences is also a key concern of the Ensemble orchestral, both in France and the Middle East. In terms of occupational integration and training, the Ensemble is developing the international “Paris Play-Direct Academy” and is working with students from the conservatories of music.
The Ensemble orchestral de Paris and its international projects are supported by the City of Paris, the French Ministry of Culture, and corporate sponsors acting under the auspices of the Crescendo Association.

CHAMBER CHOIR ACCENTUS

This year accentus, one of Europe’s most celebrated contemporary performance ensembles, marks it’s 20th anniversary. The choir, founded by current conductor and artistic director Laurence Equilbey, is dedicated to the performance of the major a cappella works as well as to contemporary repertoire. Recently rated by Gramophone Magazine as one of the top ten choirs in the world, today accentus is an ensemble of 32 professional singers performing at the highest artistic level.
The choir appears at the leading French and international festivals and regularly collaborates with prestigious conductors (Pierre Boulez, Jonathan Nott, Christoph Eschenbach) and orchestras (Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie, Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik - Berlin). It has participated in a variety of operatic productions ranging from world premieres (Pascal Dusapin’s Perelà, Uomo di fumo and Matthias Pintscher’s L’Espace dernier at the Paris Opera) to standard repertoire such as Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

The ensemble is privileged to be a partner with Paris’ two most important concert venues -  Cité de la musique and Salle Pleyel where they perform a cappella as well as in programmes for choir and orchestra. Since 2009-2010, accentus has an ongoing colaboration with Ensemble orchestral de Paris and it also enjoys a residence at Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie where it regularly performs in concert as well as in opera productions as the chorus.
Critically acclaimed ever since its first recording, accentus was awarded the Liliane Bettencourt Prize from the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1995. Since then each of its recordings has been well  received in the music press and the CD “Transcriptions” (with sales of over 130,000) was a 2004 Grammy Award nominee in addition to receiving a Disque d'or in 2008. The CD “Schoenberg”, recorded with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (2005), received a Midem Classical Award in 2006 and “Haydn, Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” with the Akademie für Alte Musik - Berlin (2006) is already considered to be a benchmark version of that work. Other important and critically acclaimed recordings include the release of “Fauré, Requiem” with the members of the Orchestre National de France (2008) ; “Strauss a cappella” with the Latvian Radio Choir (2009); and “Rachmaninoff, Vespers and Liturgy of St John Chrysostome” with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir (2010). In November, 2011 accentus will release, with the Ensemble orchestral de Paris, “Mendelssohn, Christus et cantates chorales”.
accentus received the Grand Prix Radio Classique de la Découverte in 2001 and was voted Ensemble of the Year in the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2002 and 2005.
Commiteed to innovation and contemporary performance practice, accentus is the first ensemble to use the electronic tuning system ‘e-tuner’.

www.accentus.fr

erda | accentus bénéficie du soutien de la Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France, Ministère de la culture et de la communication ; est subventionné par la Ville de Paris, la Région Ile-de-France ; et reçoit également le soutien de la SACEM. accentus est en résidence à l’Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie. Il est membre du réseau européen tenso et de la FEVIS (Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés).
Mécénat Musical Société Générale est le mécène principal d'accentus.
accentus et le jeune choeur de paris sont équipés de diapasons électroniques "e-tuner" grâce au soutien de la Fondation Orange. La Fondation Orange soutient également les Actions culturelles d’erda | accentus.
Le cercle des mécènes regroupe des particuliers et des entreprises désireux de participer au développement d'accentus, du jeune choeur de paris et du projet européen tenso en soutenant la création, la formation et le rayonnement de l'art vocal.

LAURENCE EQUILBEY, conductor

French conductor Laurence Equilbey is known as the founder, artistic director, and principle conductor of the critically acclaimed chamber choir accentus. A versatile artist, she is also much in demand in the symphonic, oratorio and opera genres where her conducting is known for its demanding and high artistic standards. Over the last 15 years she has gained critical respect from both the media and her peers.
Her more important opera conducting projects have included Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Pascal Dusapin’s Medeamaterial at Festival Musica (Strasbourg) and Manuel de Falla’s Les Tréteaux de Maître Pierre and L'Amour Sorcier at Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie. In 2009, she conducted Britten’s Albert Herring at Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie and at the Opéra Comique (Paris). For the 2010-2011 season, she conducted Weber’s Der Freischütz for Toulon Opera and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Avignon Opera.
A regular guest artist at Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie, Laurence Equilbey conducts many projects with that orchestra, most notably this season Schumann’s Des Sängers Fluch and Vom Pagen und der Königstochter, presented as Ultimate Ballades.
With accentus, she is privileged to be a partner with Paris’ two most important concert venues : Cité de la musique and Salle Pleyel. In 2010, Laurence Equilbey has conducted Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Brussels Philharmonic, accentus and the Chœur de la Radio Flamande at Cité de la musique and in 2012, she will conduct Haydn’s The Creation with the Akademie für Alte Musik – Berlin and accentus at Salle Pleyel.
Her other orchestral conducting includes working with the orchestras of Lyon, Nice, Picardie, Bucarest, Varsovie, and Concerto Köln, among others.
Since 2009/2010 Laurence Equilbey and accentus have had an ongoing collaboration with the Ensemble orchestral de Paris, where projects of note have include Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ at Salle Pleyel in 2010, and a Mendelssohn recording, “Christus et cantates chorales” (release on November 10, 2011 / naïve).
In addition, Laurence Equilbey is a guest conductor of the Grand Théâtre de Provence (Aix-en-Provence) as well as being artistic and educational director of the Department for Young Singers | le jeune choeur de paris at the Paris Regional Conservatory.
As artistic director and principal conductor of accentus, she has programmed a large and varied repertoire of vocal music and has an ongoing commitment to contemporary compositions. Their many other recordings are widely acclaimed and they where awarded a “Disque d’Or” in 2008 for the CD “Transcriptions” (more than 130,000 copies sold worldwide). Her conducing work on the CD “Haydn, Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” with the Akademie für alte Musik - Berlin is today considered a benchmark recording of that work.
Laurence Equilbey studied music at Paris, Vienna and London, and conducting with Eric Ericson, Denise Ham, Colin Metters and Jorma Panula.  

General agent : Véronique Jourdain Artists Management www.veroniquejourdain.com
www.Laurenceequilbey.com

MIREILLE DELUNSCH, soprano

Born in Alsace (France), Mireille Delunsch has begun her musician life with piano. Graduate in Musicology, she began as Lyric Soprano at the Opéra du Rhin in Boris Godounov.
She appears in a large repertoire from Monteverdi to Varèse, with the part of La Folie in Rameau’s Platée, the great Mozart’s roles (Pamina, Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi, Vitellia, La Contessa), the Italian Opera with La Bohème, Traviata or Un Ballo in maschera, the French Opera With Gluck’s Armide and Iphigénie en Tauride, Carmen, Pelléas et mélisande, Lalo’s Roi d’Ys.
From 1998, she is regularly invited at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence where she has sung L’incoronazione di Poppea (Klaus Michael Grüber’s production), Don Giovanni (peter Brook), Turn of the Screw (Luc Bondy), Traviata (Peter Mussbach) and Rheingold under Simon Rattle’s baton.
She has performed in Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann (The four parts) in Lausanne and in Lyon, Pelleas et Mélisande at La Scala de Milano, Haendel’s Theodora (Peter Sellars’s production) in Strasbourg, Don Giovanni in the Mickael Hanneke’s production, Louise, Lohengrin (Elsa) at the Opéra de Paris, Arabella at the Royal Opera House of Wallonie, Idomeneo (Elettra) at the Opera de Paris and in Strasbourg.
She made her first production in Bordeaux with Berlioz’ Cleopatra’s death and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine.
More recently, she has sung Lady Sarashina at the Opéra National de Lyon Antigone (Pierre Bartholomée’s La Lumière Antigone) at the Monnaie of Brussels, Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine  in Sao Paulo and Dido (Dido & Aenea) in Bordeaux, Turn of the Screw at the Opéra de Bordeaux, Yvonne de Bourgogne and Elettra (Idomeneo) at The Opéra de Paris, Pelléas et Mélisande in Manaus, Yvonne de Bourgogne in Vienna, Elettra (Idomeneo) at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, in Bremen, in Salzburg and in Lyon Iphigénie (Iphigénie en Tauride) in Hambourg and La Folie (Platée) at the Opera de Paris Jenufa in Bordeaux Iphigénie (Iphigénie en Tauride) in Nurmberg Yvonne de Bourgogne in Brussel (la Monnaie), Leonore (Fidelio) in Tours, Offenbach’s Belle Hélène in Marseille and Valentine (Les Huguenots) in Brussels.
Among her projects: Iphigénie (Iphigénie en Tauride) in Amsterdam Jenufa in Avignon, Elvira (Don Giovanni) in Bordeaux, Valentine (Les Huguenots) in Brussels and at the Opéra du Rhin, Alceste in Copenhagen….

MATTHEW BROOK, bass-baritone

Matthew Brook has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Far East. He has worked with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hickox, Sir Charles Mackerras, Harry Christophers, Christophe Rousset and Paul McCreesh, and many orchestras and groups including the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Freiburger
Barockorchester, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the English Baroque Soloists, the City of London Sinfonia, Collegium Vocale Gent, the Gabrieli Consort, Les Talens Lyriques, the Sixteen, and Orchestra Nationale de Lille. He has performed at festivals such as Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Utrecht, the BBC Proms, Ambronay, La Chaise Dieu, Innsbruck, Bermuda, and the Three Choirs Festival.
Matthew’s operatic roles include Polyphemus Acis and Galatea, Ismeron in Purcell's The Indian Queen, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, the title role in Eugene Onegin, Sacristan Tosca, Noye Noye's Fludde, Papageno The Magic Flute, Figaro The Marriage of Figaro, Leporello Don Giovanni, John Bunyan and Lord Hategood in Vaughan Williams's The Pilgrim’s Progress, Melchior in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Young Sam in the British premiere of Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, Vicar Albert Herring, Jupiter in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in Paris with Gardiner, Starek and Mayor Jenufa, Antenor and Calkas in Walton’s Troilus and Cressida with the Philharmonia and Hickox for the BBC, Counsel Trial By Jury recorded on the Chandos label with Hickox and BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Zuniga in Carmen at the Opera Comique in Paris with Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
He took part in a European tour with the English Baroque Soloists and Gardiner singing the roles of Don Alfonso and Bartolo in venues including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Salle Pleyel, Paris, Teatro Real, Madrid and Giuseppe Verdi Opera House, Pisa.
Matthew's recordings include: Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, broadcast on BBC Television; Idomeneo with Sir Charles Mackerras, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus on EMI ; a Gramophone Award-winning recording of Handel’s Dublin score of Messiah, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and, most recently, Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Bach’s B Minor Mass all with the Dunedin Consort for Linn Records. He has also recorded for DVD the acclaimed production of "The Full Monteverdi" with I Fagiolini.
On the concert platform Matthew has performed Brahms’ Requiem with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Bach’s B Minor Mass and Haydn’s Harmoniemesse with the Dresden Staatskapelle, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Christmas Cantatas with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Ned Keene in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Watchful/First shepherd in Vaughan Williams’s A Pilgrim’s Progress, all with Richard Hickox. Recent performances include Nielsen’s Symphony no. 3 with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder; Bach’s Mass in B minor and St Matthew Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe; recording the role of Friar Tuck in Sullivan’s Ivanhoe for Chandos Records; Bach’s St John Passion with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Oleg Caetani; Bach Cantatas with Marcus Creed and the Tonhalle-Orchester, Zurich; Elijah at the Three Choirs Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra; Handel’s Apollo e Dafne with Retrospect Ensemble and Matthew Halls at the Wigmore Hall; Haydn’s The Seasons with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir; Messiah in Boston with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society, and with the Sixteen; a tour of Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti; and Bach’s St John Passion with the Gabrieli Consort & Players and Paul McCreesh.
Engagements this season and beyond include Araspe in Handel’s Tolomeo and Il Re in Handel’s Ariodante with Il Complesso Barocco and Alan Curtis; Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Kouno in Der Freischütz at the Opéra Comique; Joseph in Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ for Ensemble Orchestral de Paris; Zuniga in Carmen at Le Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg; Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Mozart’s Requiem with the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées.