Our story
La Chapelle Harmonique was founded in 2017 by Valentin Tournet. It consists of a choir and an orchestra playing period instruments. The choice of the repertoire, mainly dedicated to oratorio and baroque opera, goes hand in hand with a desire to renew the approach to major works by focusing particularly on less common and less well-known versions: Bach’s Saint John Passion (second version) or Magnificat (socalled Christmas version) and Rameau’s stage works.
In parallel to these concerts with a large ensemble, the ensemble has taken the challenge of multidisciplinary and innovative chamber music projects, which have allowed it to collaborate with personalities inside and outside the so-called classical world, such as Jean-François Zygel (Double Bach), Lou de Laâge, Jennifer Decker & Alex Vizorek (Fables de La Fontaine), in partnership with institutions such as the Comédie française or the Cité internationale de la BD et de l’image d’Angoulême. This double activity allows Valentin Tournet to pass from the activity of a conductor to that of an instrumentalist, in a nourishing exchange with the musical practices that he has favored throughout his evolution.
In addition to this, there is a voluntary approach to artistic and cultural education carried out in conjunction with the Academies of Limoges and Versailles.
Our location
La Chapelle Harmonique is deeply attached to the territory of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was thanks to the film Tous les matins du monde that its founder, Valentin Tournet, experienced a founding artistic shock. This film is shot in Creuse and shows the landscapes of this great region, so diverse.
We therefore try each year to perform at least once in each department of our region of origin.
In winter, we offer a highlight, a concert that brings together choir and orchestra, which has become an annual event for the ensemble in Limoges.
Since 2022, thanks to the support of the Commissariat au Massif Central, and in connection with the dynamics of Clermont-Ferrand Massif Central, our ensemble looks beyond the administrative borders of the greater region to offer a season in the Massif Central.
Beyond these territories at the heart of our actions, we offer our concerts throughout the country (we hope to give a concert in overseas soon) and we look to the international scene, to spread baroque music as Valentin Tournet envisions it.
La Chapelle Harmonique is regularly invited to the Auditorium de Radio France, the Auditorium du Louvre, and the Château de Versailles; it has also benefited from residencies at the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise and the Festival de Saint-Denis. Her operatic debut took place at the Beaune International Baroque Opera Festival with Rameau’s Indes galantes.
La Chapelle Harmonique has been recording since 2019 for the Château de Versailles Spectacles label. The ensemble has thus been able to experiment and appropriate several spaces of this mythical place of French historical heritage: Royal Chapel, Hall of the Crusades, Hall of Battles. Its first album devoted to Bach’s Magnificat and Cantatas for Christmas was released in the fall of 2019, followed by Rameau’s Indes galantes in 2021. Rameau’s Paladins and Bach’s Motets will be released in 2022 in the same collection.
La Chapelle Harmonique is supported by the Orange Foundation, Jolt Capital and Spedidam.
La Chapelle Harmonique is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the Centre national de la musique. The ensemble is in residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac.
La Chapelle Harmonique’s main sponsor is La Caisse des Dépôts. Its activities are also supported by the Fondation Orange and the Spedidam. La Chapelle Harmonique is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Centre national de la musique. The ensemble is in residence at the Fondation Singer-Polignac.