Lyrique-en-mer, an island event.

AN INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE FESTIVAL

 

For over 25 years, the Lyrique-en-mer International Festival has been bringing the island to life. 

Under the direction of David Jackson, the festival creates and produces on site an opera, a work from the sacred repertoire prepared during the year by the local lyric choir, as well as several other participatory events, and for a few weeks becomes a unique transmission venue for young French and international talent.

LOCAL ROOTS

On a local level, the festival enlivens the cultural life of Belle-Ile with the lyric choir, which brings together 60 choristers with a passion for singing, and the implementation of participative, educational and cultural actions.

 

An original initiative saw the light of day in 2018 with the creation of the "Venez Chanter!" participatory concerts, bringing together 200 singers, including amateurs invited to join the Belle-Île Lyric Choir, soloists and orchestra, then conducted by Philip Walsh in the church of Le Palais. This experience of geographical decompartmentalization and the sharing of music and song led to the presentation of Mozart's Requiem in 2018, and Gabriel Fauré's in 2019. 

 

The festival develops musical learning and awakening for young audiences, through various educational activities such as : 

  • Interventions in schools 
  • Instrument loans for music education classes 
  • A choral singing workshop for children 
  • Educational concerts 
  • The creation of a children's choir

 

A partnership with Belle-Ile hospital creates a social link for the so-called "disadvantaged".by organizing regular concerts on its premises and associated facilities (EHPAD, nursing homes, etc.). 

 

Every year, Lyrique-en-mer expands its audience with cultural events such as : 

  • The introduction of a preferential island fare 
  • Metropolitan Opera season operas at Le Rex cinema 
  • Free live broadcasts of "Opera on Screen(s)

EXCELLENCE, SIMPLICITY, TRANSMISSION, DURABILITY 

For over 25 years, Lyrique-en-mer has built its roadmap on its fundamentals.

True to its original spirit, the festival's essential mission is to inspire and educate future generations. It's a laboratory that gives young artists from different horizons the time to learn and progress alongside experienced singers and musicians. 

It fosters excellence through an alliance between professionals and amateurs. 

It's this taste for perfection that allows each of us to surpass ourselves. Whether you're a singer, a musician, a chorister, an administrator, a volunteer, a donor... everyone plays their part in the collective effort. 

Over the years, Lyrique-en-mer has passed on its passion and forged a lasting bond between Bellilois and artists from all over the world. 

The festival has become a must for all thrill-seekers. on this aptly-named island where nature and culture mingle in perfect harmony. 

Volunteers at the service of the festival In 2019, Victor Tribot Laspierre, special envoy from France MusiqueThe Festival de Belle-Ile," in a report entitled "À Belle-Ile, le Festival fait des petits miracles avec les moyens du bord" (On Belle-Ile, the Festival works small miracles with the means at hand), underlined the participative quality of the festival, which is supported by a battalion of volunteers. 

"A festival created by and for the people of Bellilois: you quickly understand this when you observe the Festival's volunteers. The people of Bellil are committed to making their festival work. They're the ones who house the artists, they're the ones who help design the sets, lend old armchairs whose aesthetic suits the director's wishes, or lend white shirts to the artists". 

THE "YOUNG ARTISTS" PROGRAM

 

"Learning by doing. Since 2002, the "young artists" program, at the heart of the festival, has enabled young American and European singers who are still students to experience the stage under professional conditions. The soloists act as skill brokers, enabling them to consolidate their art and join the festival network, make a name for themselves and gain access to new projects.

Opéra 2022 Orphée et Eurydice
Concert 10 août © David Giard
David Giard

Every summer, some fifteen young singers take up residency for 4 to 5 weeks, focusing on the following activities: 

  • They take part in the season's operas as chorus members or soloists. 
  • They create and perform in public an opera and/or operetta, which they sing in its entirety, with a dedicated director under professional working and performance conditions. 
  • They contribute to the season's sacred choral work with the Chœur lyrique de Belle- Ile in 4 performances in the island's 4 churches. 
  • A "Young Talents" recital is devoted exclusively to them, depending on the year. 
  • They benefit from a week of afternoon masterclasses coached by the professional opera soloists present. 
  • They are involved in the festival's cultural activities. 

 

These young talents are recruited through partnerships We have also worked with American universities such as Indiana University, the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Maryland, McGill University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and Tennessee and Furman University, as well as high-level competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. 

New French, European and international partnerships are currently being explored. 

The young artists who took part in the Festival now form a vast network of "alumni" who are pursuing their careers or training. 

Lyrique-en-mer had the privilege of welcoming the great violinist Nemanja Radulović for exceptional concerts as part of the festival.

He shares his experience, as does the Franco-American soprano Jazmin Black Grollemundthe Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw and American baritone Tyler Simpson who have taken part in the festival through one-off or recurring invitations. 

Nemanja Radulović, VIOLINIST 

"I have the fondest memories of my time at the Festival Lyrique de Belle-Ile-en-mer, one of the most beautiful places I've ever had the chance to visit, but also of all the people who welcomed me to the island. I feel privileged to have been able to take part as a musician on several occasions, and to share music and creation with these wonderful artists. All this for an audience that is always enthusiastic and generous. The artistic program, under the baton of Philip Walsh, makes us feel right at home. I wish you all a long life, and above all, don't change a thing, or rather, keep it up!" 

Natalya Romaniw, SOPRANO, 2020 winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society singer award

"Lyrique-en-mer is a wonderful place to sing! This is true for everyone: for experienced singers eager to explore new repertoire, as well as for Young Artists who benefit from a short, perfectly organized program with many performances. They also have the chance to learn from and perform with older artists. It's an ideal place where you can just 'be'."

Jazmin Black Grollemund, SOPRANO

"My first summer at the festival as a Young Artist was full of life-changing experiences. I learned a lot from soloists, coaches and directors. For me, everything was formative. I left the island at the end of the summer with the certainty that I wanted to become an opera singer! Since then, my life has been on Belle-Ile, where I met my husband thanks to the festival." 

Tyler Simpson, BARYTON-BASSE, Member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus 

"Many of my favorite musical moments have taken place at the Festival. In particular, I have experienced great joy and emotion during the sacred music concerts, when the local public throngs the island's churches to listen to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven..." 

A FESTIVAL IN HARMONY WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL SITE

Since the late 19th century, many artists have visited Belle-Ile in search of tranquillity and inspiration.

The first of these is the large Sarah Bernhardt who spent every summer in her famous Fort des Poulains, surrounded by her friends Georges Clairin, Reynaldo Hahn, Louise Abbéma, Sacha Guitry... and left her mark on the island forever. 

Monet, Matisse, Vasarely or John Peter Russell made numerous stopovers there, as did Flaubert, Proust, Honegger, Varèse, Florent Schmitt and Albert Roussel

Visit actress Arletty (whose name our concert hall bears), discovered Belle-Ile during the filming of La Fleur de l'âge (1947), Marcel Carné's unfinished film, and acquired a small fisherman's cottage in Bangor. 

One of Claude Monet's paintings of the Needles of Port Coton on Belle-ïle © Getty - DeAgostini
Sarah Bernhardt's fort © Office de Tourisme de Belle-Ile-en-Mer
Sarah Bernhardt around 1880, photograph by Napoléon Sarony

"Sucking in the scent of the waves, we inhaled, we evoked to ourselves all that there was of colors, rays, murmurs. We rolled our minds in the profusion of these splendors, we filled our eyes with them; we spread our nostrils, we opened our ears to them."

Gustave Flaubertfrom Par les champs et par les grèves - A trip to Brittany