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Founded in Tours in 1974 by musicologist Jean-Pierre Ouvrard and conducted since 1993 by Joël Suhubiette, the Ensemble Jacques Moderne (= EJM) – a vocal and instrumental ensemble enriched by musicological research – performs two centuries of ancient European music, from Renaissance polyphony to the peak of Baroque vocal music.
The Ensemble Jacques Moderne is devoted to the dissemination of unknown, forgotten, and unedited works (as testified by their recordings of Regnard, Mouton, Tabart, Gagliano, Bassano, and Reinhard Keiser), as well as the interpretation of the repertoire of such great masters as Monteverdi, Carissimi, Charpentier, Purcell, George Frideric Handel, and J.S. Bach.
Based in Tours (France), the ensemble regularly performs at major venues and festivals in France and in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Latvia…), in South America (Columbia), in Asia (Japan), and most recently in Canada.
Throughout the last several years, a core group of 15-20 singers has made up the Ensemble Jacques Moderne. Their dedication to the exploration of a cappella and basso continuo repertoire has allowed the Ensemble to find its vocal identity among the French choral landscape. From great works of Early Music repertoire, such as Henry Purcell’s King Arthur or the motets of J.S. Bach, to other, rarer works, like Domenico Scarlatti’s Missa quatuor, the Ensemble Jacques Moderne has sustained a musicological curiosity and integrity that characterizes the Early Music movement. |
