This CMBV choir school has acquired iconic status in the world of French baroque music. It draws inspiration from the vocal ensembles which sang in the Royal Chapel at Versailles towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV.
The voices of 20 school children (Les Pages) join forces with the 17 adult students (Les Chantres), mirroring the original French baroque formation and giving the choir its totally unique tone colour.
Every year Les Pages & les Chantres perform a series of Jeudis musicaux concerts and stage productions in France and abroad, organised by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and its partners and directed by Fabien Armengaud and Clément Buonomo.
Jeudis musicaux
The Jeudis musicaux concerts give the public a chance to hear the choir school, les Pages & les Chantres, as well as guest ensembles and conservatoires, from November through June in the Royal Chapel at the Palace of Versailles.
Concerts and stage productions
Les Pages & Les Chantres are regularly asked to perform alongside leading baroque singers and ensembles (e.g. Le Concert Spirituel, Le Concert de la Loge, Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Ecurie, Les Folies Françoises, Collegium Marianum, Les Talens lyriques, The Monteverdi Choir and The Gabrieli Consort), conducted by Fabien Armengaud or guest conductors such as Sébastien Daucé, Emmanuelle Haïm, Alexis Kossenko, Sylvain Sartre, Stéphane Fuget, William Christie, Ton Koopman, Hervé Niquet, Vincent Dumestre, Christophe Rousset, Paul McCreesh, Jérémie Rhorer or John Eliot Gardiner.
Les Pages & Les Chantres have been invited to perform in prestigious venues and at baroque music festivals worldwide (e.g. Oslo, Ambronay, Leipzig, Sablé, Sarrebourg, Lucerne, Budapest, Prague, Zamora, Beijing, Utrecht, Potsdam, Rome and Dresden).
Teaching concerts
Every year CMBV choir school pupils and students, from youngsters in the Music Kindergarten through to adult vocational students, showcase their work in the form of free concerts, stage productions and end-of-year recitals held in the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs and other venues in Versailles. These special occasions form part of the teaching programme and act as a platform to showcase their musical skills and gain valuable experience in singing in public.
Recordings
Les Pages & les Chantres have have made around 30 recordings for labels Alpha, Harmonia Mundi, Erato, K617, Astrée-Auvidis and EMI Virgin. Recent recording of the choir conducted by Fabien Armengaud include Gilles’s Messe des morts performed by Les Pages & les Chantres (Château de Versailles Spectacles label in 2023).
