BRIGITTE LESNE

Medieval Singing (From 22 to 27 July)

On the occasion of the Feminae edition of Early Music Morella 2023, this workshop will be dedicated to the repertoire of the 12th and 13th centuries and will be divided into two parts: profane and sacred repertoire. For the first, a selection of courtly lyric songs from oc (south of France) and oil (north of France), chosen from among the few “feminine” works in the corpus of troubadours and trouvères, as well as songs “put to voice de mujer» that illustrate some aspects of the medieval feminine universe. For the second axis, the compositions dedicated to the Lady of Heaven, some of which are preserved in female monasteries, such as that of the abbess Herrade de Hohenburg in Mont Sainte-Odile in Alsace, or that of Eleanor of Brittany in Fontevraud, works representative of the San Martial de Limoges School (versus, trope, prose) and the Notre-Dame School of Paris (conduit, motet, rondeau).

Brigitte Lesne, singer, is specialized in the music of the Middle Ages. He has directed the Discantus ensemble (female voices) since its creation, as well as Alla Francesca (voices and instruments), an ensemble of which he is a founding member. With these two groups he performs in concert all over the world and has recorded nearly forty CDs. Since 2019-2020 she has been a professor at the Sorbonne University (Master’s “Interpretation of Ancient Music”) and, since 2012-2013, at the Versailles Conservatory (licence “Music, Performance and Heritage” – CRR de Versailles and CRD de the Vallée de Chevreuse / Universities of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Paris-Saclay). Every year he also offers practical workshops to deepen the interpretation of medieval repertoires, for professionals and experienced amateurs, within the framework of the courses offered by the Center de musique médiévale in Paris.In 2020 he founded the Schola de la Sainte-Chapelle, a small choir of young singers in the process of becoming professional singers, with training periods leading to a concert. Brigitte Lesne plays various instruments depending on the program: Gothic and medieval harps, harp-psaltery (or “rote”), “chifonie » (medieval hurdy-gurdy) and percussion. Composers Philippe Schoeller, Jérôme Combier, Pierre Chépélov and Joel Rust have written for her and their ensembles. The choreographer Alban Richard invited her, together with Alla Francesca, to propose the music for the show “Nombrer les étoiles”, which has been touring the main national stages since 2016. Brigitte Lesne first trained at the Pantin and Bobigny conservatories before to attend the schola cantorum in Basel. He perfected his knowledge of Gregorian chant and paleography with the musicologist Marie-Noël Colette, and at the same time he continued his training by joining the ensembles Alia Musica (Italy) and Gilles Binchois (France), with whom he performed between the mid-1980s and the 1980s. 90. He also studied Hispanic literature and dedicated his master’s thesis to the “misteri d’Elx”, an exceptional musical testimony of medieval religious theater.