Le Chœur de Grenelle

The Choir of Grenelle was created in 2007 by Alix Dumon-Debaecker, then a student in choir conducting. His artistic project aimed to bring together singers from various horizons in a common passion for music, and to share it with a large audience.

After more than thirteen years of existence, it is a successful bet and the some 150 concerts already given have demonstrated the ability of the Choir of Grenelle to appropriate varied repertoires by offering a musical performance of excellence. Varying from 12 to 38 singers depending on the program, the Choir of Grenelle passionately interprets works from various periods, with or without orchestral training.

Alix Dumon-Debaecker favors a cappella music, which allows to highlight the voices and the sound of the choir. This specialty, which requires sophisticated musical technique, has become his trademark. The invitations to the musical season of the Théâtre Le Ranelagh, to the Festivals of the great organs of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois and the Temple of Enghien, to the Heritage Days of Boulogne-Billancourt, to the Cité internationale des Arts, to the Sacré- Coeur de Montmartre or a tour of Bavaria, testify to the recognition of the choir's expertise in this field.

The richness of the singers' musical backgrounds gives the Choir of Grenelle the stature allowing it to place its musical standards at a high level. All the singers come from master's degrees such as the Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc, master's degrees from Radio-France, Brittany, Strasbourg, Chartres, the Center de musique baroque de Versailles and Parisian conservatories.

The musical quality of the choir is guaranteed by a rigorous and selective recruitment, coupled with a continuous training of its singers in order to assure them a real progression. They benefit from the assiduous teaching of several singing teachers: Gisèle Fixe (Conservatory of the 7th arrondissement of Paris), Jeanne Chevalier (Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine), Baptiste Jore (bass soloist at the Choir of the French Army), Marthe Davost (soprano from the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris) and Daïnouri Choque, choir director and trainer on the complete perception of sound.

In March 2016, the Choir of Grenelle recorded its first disc, under the artistic direction of Didier Louis: the Mass for four voices Delicta quis intelligit ( Who knows his deviations?, Beginning of verse 13 of psalm 19) by Nicolas Pacotat (v . 1696-1731), unpublished work, accompanied by Litanies to the Virgin by Paolo Lorenzani (1640-1713) and three motets by Guillaume Bouzignac (1587-1643).

In addition to the creation of the Boléro for choir, its 2018-2019 season opened with a concert with the Franco-English composer John Featherstone, whose Te Deum he performed at the Temple de l'Étoile. The choir then continued its collaboration started last year with Kalalumen and the Lux æterna Ensemble for a tour commemorating the centenary of the armistice of 1918 around Vivaldi's Gloria .

After a first part in December 2017 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, the Choir of Grenelle thus had the opportunity to perform in Lille, Verdun, Compiègne then Calais under the direction of Gaëtan Jarry. Finally, the men's choir made its debut in the lyrical repertoire at the Théâtre Le Ranelagh by joining the Opéra du Jour company in La Cenerentola by Rossini under the artistic direction of Isabelle du Boucher, and delivering a performance hailed by the critical.

These productions were followed by a cover of John Featherstone's Te Deum , as well as participation in Jacques Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers at the Théâtre Le Ranelagh in December 2019, which will be repeated in September 2020 at the Cinq Toits (Paris XVI).

In December 2021, the Choir will perform Mozart's Requiem with the Orchester des Jeunes d'Île-de-France (OJIF), as well as Purcell's Funeral for Queen Mary . Finally, for the sixth consecutive year, he will host the Mass of Saint John the Baptist for the Order of Malta, in the sumptuous setting of the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles.