Upcoming Concerts
During the 2024-25 Season of the Paris Choral Society, we will continue the celebrations of our 30th Anniversary when we will return to our first concert and Handel’s Messiah, performed with an Orchestra at the American Cathedral in Paris, along with the 30th Edition of our Messiah Sing-Along. In Spring 2025, we turn to the beauty and fragility of the earth with works which reflect the (changing) sounds of our planet. To round off the season, in Summer 2025 we will perform the Duruflé’s Requiem. You can find out more in our links below.
With the Open Orchestra
Soprano: Marthe Davost, Alto: Lucile Richardot, Tenor: Jordan Mouaïssia, Bass: Tristan Hambleton
Thursday 21 November at 7.30pm
Saturday 23 November at 6.00pm
The American Cathedral
PCS kicks off its fourth decade with a work closely entwined with its musical identity. The much-loved “Messiah Sing-Along” has been a yearly event since 1996, while the full oratorio, which will be presented in this concert, has been sung at the beginning of each decade, thus establishing a tradition. The breadth and magnificence of the composition, set for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, does justice to the Passion story.
While it was written for Easter celebrations, this oratorio is also a Christmas work, celebrating the mystery and beauty inherent in preparing for the way of the Lord, the Annunciation, the joy and awe of the Nativity. The rise towards the dramatic force of the Passion and Resurrection have rarely been communicated in such a vivid manner, at once imaginative and empathetic, with the baroque flair for a credible climax.
For these concert performances, The Open Chamber Orchestra will be joining the Paris Choral Society. The orchestra was founded in 2017 by Yaïr Benaïm, conductor and violinist. After 13 years at the head of an internationally renowned string quartet, he now wishes to infuse the spirit and osmosis of chamber music on a symphonic scale. The Open Chamber Orchestra regularly performs in venues in Ile-de-France, and is a guest at festivals such as the Festival des Forêts or the Nancyphonies. One of its major current projects is the recording of Mozart’s piano concertos with soloist Dana Ciocarlie.
We are also pleased to welcome four outstanding soloists:
- Soprano: Marthe Davost: She entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP) in 2012 from where she graduated in 2017. Since 2018, she has been a laureate of the Royaumont Foundation. Since January 2022, she has played Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) for the tour by the Unité Scénique de la Fondation Royaumont, in the production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier. This tour continues in 2023 and 2024.
- Alto: Lucile Richardot: Performing music ranging from medieval to contemporary, from the concert platform to the operatic stage, Lucile sings regularly with Correspondances (Sébastien Daucé), Pygmalion (Raphaël Pichon), and Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (François Lazarevitch). She has also recorded multiple disks, including with harmonia mundi in 2021 Stabat Mater by Pergolesi with the German Ensemble Resonanz conducted by Riccardo Minasi.
- Tenor: Jordan Mouaïssia: After studying musicology at the University of Montpellier, he took lessons in Paris with the tenor Michel Fockenoy then with the baritone Rudi Fernandez-Cardenas. He regularly sings as a soloist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Jordan is also a member of the Arcal Young Lyric Troupe for the 2023-2024 season and of the Il Caravaggio Lyric Studio since 2024.
- Bass: Tristan Hambleton: Born in London, Tristan Hambleton studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music London. He enjoys invitations from the world’s most important venues and orchestras including The BBC Proms, Salzburger Festspiele, Berliner Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie and Palau de la Música Catalana.
Handel “Messiah” Sing-Along
Saturday 7 December at 3.00pm
Sainte Clotilde (23B Rue las Cases, 75007 Paris)
The Paris Choral Society’s MESSIAH sing-along is returning for the 30th time in 2024, giving you a chance to sing Part 1 of HANDEL’s celebrated work. We invite you to join the choir for the afternoon, singing six choruses before concluding with the famous “Hallelujah” chorus.
A sing-along is where YOU get to sing with members of the Paris Choral Society sitting amongst you. We will be guided through the afternoon by Lewis Hammond, interim Music Director of the PCS, with organ accompaniment. Four professional soloists will entertain us with the arias between each of
the choruses.
No experience is needed for this delightful afternoon. So, whether you will be singing with us for the first or thirtieth time or simply want to listen to this
masterpiece, we invite you to start the Christmas season with joyous music-making.
If you sign up before by 1 December you will be invited to a rehearsal with the PCS to prepare for the sing-along. The rehearsal is completely optional but gives you the chance to meet other singers. It will take place on Monday 2 December at 7.30pm at The American Cathedral in Paris.
Sounds of the Earth
Thursday 20 March at 8.00pm
Saturday 22 March at 6.00pm
The American Cathedral
This A CAPPELLA CONCERT is dedicated to our blue planet. We will sing songs by composers who show reverence for our common heritage, the Earth, and bring to our attention the need to care and share it with all. Among them will be Charles Villiers Stanford, Herbert Howells, Jonathan Dove, Eriks Esenvalds, Benjamin Britten, and Alec Roth.
Humans have always been drawn to music. Earth soundscapes were our first sources of inspiration. Yet these natural soundscapes are being depleted: the music and languages of tribal and minority communities are vanishing, as well as whole species of insects, birds, whales and wolves, our singing brothers and sisters.
We have endangered, often now eradicated, our musical sources. Hence this concert to pay homage to our precious planet and all who inhabit it.
Duruflé “Requiem”
Saturday 14 June at 9.00pm
St Etienne du Mont
Composed in 1947, DURUFLÉ’s REQUIEM is scored for solo baritone, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and organ.
At the heart of the REQUIEM’s musical language is plainsong, specifically the medieval melodies from the Mass for the Dead which Duruflé knew so well. Duruflé’s stated goal was to retain the fluid, elastic approach to rhythm that is characteristic of chant, with its constantly fluctuating groupings of twos and threes. The melodies are organically expanded and surrounded with impressionistic harmonies that at times seem to suggest “liturgical Debussy.” Duruflé wrote, “I have above all sought to enter into the particular style of Gregorian melodies and have been compelled to reconcile… the rhythm… with the requirements of modern [notation].”
We are thrilled to be singing this Requiem in the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, where Duruflé was titular organist when the piece was composed.
