PARTICIPANTS

ENSEMBLE ORGANUM

The Ensemble Organum, founded by Marcel Pérès in 1982, has approached most of the European medieval repertories that marked the evolution of music from the sixth century onwards. The many concerts and shows presented in Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Near East, the recording of about thirty CDs and frequent appearances on radio and television have enabled the Ensemble Organum to play a decisive role in the revival of medieval music by revealing the rich diversity of Europe’s musical heritage.

Founded at the Abbey of Sénanque and established at the Fondation Royaumont from 1984 to 2000, where Marcel Pérès created the CERIMM (Centre Européen de Recherche sur les Musiques Médiévales), the Ensemble Organum moved in 2001 to the former abbey of Moissac to run a new research structure, the CIRMA (Centre Itinérant de Recherche sur les Musiques Anciennes), which was created with the aim of developing the research and practice of early music in con-junction with living traditions. Beyond a simple acoustic pleasure, the research programmes are devised with an interdiscipli- nary approach in mind, in order to broaden the fields of investigation and make music an impor-tant tool in reflection on the history of mentalities. The Ensemble Organum invites us to adopt a different approach to the past, by situating the rediscovery and updating of music of the past at the heart of the great socio-cultural trends in the modern world. The Ensemble Organum and the CIRMA are supported by the French Ministry of Culture, the Midi-Pyrénées Regional Council, the Tarn and Garonne General Council and the City of Moissac.

Marcel Pérès after studying organ and composition at the Conservatoire of Nice, continued his studies in Great Britain and Canada. On returning to Europe in 1979, he specialized in mediaeval music and founded, in 1982, the Ensemble Organum, with which he undertook systematic research into mediaeval liturgical repertories.

In 1984 he created, at the Fondation Royaumont, the European Centre for the Investigation and Performance of Mediaeval Music, CERIMM, of which he was director until 1999. With the Ensemble he as made more then thirty recordings, most of which have received the highest awards: Diapason d'or, Classical Awards and Choc de l'année du Monde de la Musique.

In 2001, Marcel Pérès founded, at the Abbey of Moissac, CIRMA (Itinerant Centre for Research into Early Music), intended to shed light, by means of music, on man's journeys, his thoughts and acquisition of knowledge throughout the centuries, and to develop complementary studies in the fields of living traditions and musical archaeology.

Marcel Pérès's international activity was recognized in 1990 by means of the award of the Leonardo da Vinci Prize of the French Secretary of State for international cultural relations. In 1996 the French Monistry of Culture made him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.