Throughout the centuries, the choir repertoire has been nourished by sacred music. Created in 2013 and composed of 16 professional singers, the Ascèse d’Anglet choir offers, at the start of the year, the public to discover a varied and rich program of a range of works of sacred music during a tour of three concerts.
The ensemble will perform on Friday January 31 (1), at 8 p.m., in the Baigorri church (then on Saturday 1is February, at 8 p.m., in the Hasparren church, and Sunday February 2, at 7 p.m., at the Notre-Dame-du-Refuge chapel, in Anglet).
The choir is directed by conductor Philippe Mendes, who never ceases to want to introduce his audience to the gems of choral singing. In his role as professor at the Maurice-Ravel regional conservatory in the Basque Country, he holds the reins of several ensembles, including the choir of the Basque Country Orchestra, and trains students in choir conducting.
It is therefore committed to the dissemination of the varied repertoire of choral singing, but also to the training of young choir directors or conductors from the region. He is also regularly invited to direct and participate in management masterclasses in France and Spain.
-Contemporary composers
Through the chosen pieces, Philippe Mendes reconnects with a repertoire which places contemporary composers at the center of this new program of the Ascèse choir: Arvo Part, Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Joseph Villa, Nicolas Bacri for the best known and Jon Saenz Rubio, young Basque composer. These composers from different countries and cultures were influenced by the great masters of ancient polyphony.
The Ascèse choir will therefore perform two pieces from Italian sacred music, one by Giovanni Giorgi, the other by Gregorio Allegri, with his famous “Miserere”. Johann Sebastian Bach will also be part of the program.
(1) Reservations on the website www.choeurascese.com or go to the tourist offices in the Basque Country.
