Accentus

The Accentus Chamber Choir, also known by its French name Le Choeur de Chambre Accentus and frequently shortened to Accentus, ranks among the foremost small vocal ensembles worldwide. Its programming spans eras from Baroque works to present-day compositions.

Laurence Equilbey established the French chamber choir Accentus in 1991 and continues to serve as its director. The ensemble has maintained a fixed membership of 32 singers since its inception. Equilbey initially focused on a cappella repertoire from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a specialization the group has sustained in both performances and recordings while expanding its scope through partnerships with external ensembles. A grant from the Fondation France Telecom in 1993 placed the choir on firmer financial footing. Beginning in 1998, Accentus embarked on an extended residency at the Opéra de Rouen, where it also presents independent concerts at the Théâtre des Arts and Chapelle Corneille.

The choir has forged alliances across diverse musical formations. These include collaborations with period-instrument ensembles such as Concerto Köln and the Akademie für alte Musik, as well as engagements with conventional symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, and the Orchestre de Paris under conductors including Christoph Eschenbach and Pierre Boulez. In 2000 the group toured the United States with Boulez’s Ensemble InterContemporain, an endeavor that formed part of numerous international tours. Accentus has regularly championed contemporary scores, prompting Equilbey to create the affiliated group Axe 21 specifically for that repertoire.

The ensemble’s discography stands out as a central achievement, encompassing more than 35 releases by 2020. Early recordings appeared on multiple labels before Accentus shifted to Naïve in 2003 and remained there for an extended period. During the late 2010s several albums emerged on Erato, and in 2020 the choir joined the historical-instrument ensemble Les Siècles for a recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’ early opera Le Timbre d’Argent. These releases have garnered multiple Diapason d’Or prizes along with a Grammy nomination.