"It is a new page in the history of our festival which is being written today because of a major event : the installation in Thiré of the Jardin des Voix, the Arts Florissants’ academy for young singers. Since its creation, this academy has become a veritable hothouse for the development of the very best talent. In Thiré, the Jardin des Voix has found its setting and its place. It will indeed be on the reflecting pool ("le Miroir d'eau"), the iconic stage of the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, that the eighth edition of the Jardin des Voix will present the fruit of its labour for the very first time, before leaving for an international tour. 

This new edition will follow on from the previous ones. The festival focus will be on youth and discovery, and will propose a programme of concerts and events which mix the pleasures of music and of gardens in the idyllic settings of the different festival venues, in a proximity with the artists which few sites can permit. All and everyone, children and adults, novices and confirmed music lovers are invited to this constellation of concerts, walks and encounters.
Welcome to this renewed version of the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie."

William Christie, directeur musical fondateur des Arts Florissants
et Paul Agnew, directeur musical adjoint des Arts Florissants

General presentation of the Festival

The festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie is produced by:
The Conseil départemental de la Vendée
Les Arts Florissants, in association with Les Jardins de Musique de William Christie en Vendée, certified "Centre Culturel de Rencontre"

Les Arts Florissants receives financial support from the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the  Département de la Vendée and the Région Pays de la Loire.
The Ensemble has been in residence at the Philharmonie de Paris since 2015.
The Selz Foundation, American Friends of Les Arts Florissants and Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank are Principal Sponsors.

The festival would not be possible without the support of:

Major sponsors of the Festival
The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation
Dr David G. Knott & Mrs Françoise Girard
Florence Gould Foundation

Sponsor of the Festival
Fondation Orange

Amis du Festival
Fleury Michon
MrsMaryvonne Pinault (Temporary Garden Prize)
Les Pépinières Ripaud de Cheffois
Groupe Caisse des dépôts Pays de la Loire

Partners
The Juilliard School of Music in New York
Le Comité Départemental du Tourisme de Vendée
La Commune de Thiré
La Communauté de Communes Sud-Vendée Littoral

Les Jardins de Musique de William Christie wish to thank the supporters of the Quartier des artistes:
• For the Maison de la Fontaine : Mrs Helen Little and Mr William Little, Mr Theodore Rogers and Mrs Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Mr Elward Bresett, The Versailles Foundation Inc., The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye foundation, the group Liébot and the group Ober
• For the Ancien Café (the old café), the Salle de Bal (the ballroom) and the Grange (the barn) : Mercedes T. Bass Charitable Corporation, Mrs Sydney Houghton Weinberg, Mrs Elizabeth W. Smith, the Polycarpe Foundation, the Fondation du Patrimoine
• For the Maison du Lavoir : Mr Hottinguer, Mr Liébot, Mr Pineau-Valencienne
 

Booking opens on June 8th from 10a.m.
➢ By telephone on (+33) (0)2 28 857 857
➢ Online www.evenements.vendee.fr

N.B.: the number of seats available is very limited; we recommend that you book your seats as soon as booking opens.

EVENING CONCERTS

Concerts on the Reflecting Pool (« Le Miroir d’eau »)

"An English Garden" • Jardin des Voix | 19 & 20 August • 8:30 pm

A selection of airs by the great masters of English music from Gibbons, Dowland, Lawes, Purcell as far as William Boyce, Thomas Arne and George Frideric Handel.

Musical direction: William Christie
Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants
With the laureates of the 8th edition of the Jardin des Voix: Natalie Pérez (soprano), Natasha Schnur (soprano), Eva Zaïcik (mezzo-soprano), James Way (tenor), Josep-Ramon Olivé (baritone), Padraic Rowan (bass-baritone)

Tickets: 25 € full price , 17 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit" / 20 € full price, 12 € reduced price (without the "Méditations")

An evening with Les Arts Florissants orchestra | 25 & 26 August • 8:30 pm

Pieces by Rameau and Handel.

Musical direction: William Christie
Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants
With Emmanuelle De Negri (soprano)

Tickets: 25 € full price , 17 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit" / 20 € full price, 12 € reduced price (without the "Méditations")

Candlelit concerts in the Church of Thiré

Vivaldi, Nisi Dominus | 20 August • 8:30 pm

Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater : two masterpieces of sacred music by Vivaldi, with young musicians from the Juilliard School in New York.

Musical direction, tenor: Paul Agnew

Tickets: 20 € full price, 12 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit"

Sacred Monteverdi madrigals | 21 & 23 August • 8:30 pm

The result of his work on the complete cycle of Monteverdi madrigals, Paul Agnew offerts a selection from the books three and four, using versions where the composer substituted sacred texts by Coppini to Tasso and Guarini’s poetry.

Musical direction, tenor: Paul Agnew
With: Miriam Allan (soprano), Maud Gnidzaz (soprano), Mélodie Ruvio (mezzo-soprano), Sean Clayton (tenor), Alan Ewing (bass)

Tickets: 20 € full price, 12 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit"

Lorenzani Vespers | 24 & 25 August • 8:30 pm

Chorus of Les Arts Florissants

Musical direction, tenor: Paul Agnew

Tickets: 20 € full price , 12 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit"

Carte blanche to Thomas Dunford | 26 August • 8:30 pm

A regular member of Les Arts Florissants' continuo and an acclaimed recitalist, Thomas Dunford invites two singers of the present and the past editions of the Jardin des Voix to interprete the magnificent Leçons de ténèbres by Couperin.

With: Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo), Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano), NN

Tickets: 20 € full price, 12 € reduced price • followed by the "Méditations à l'aube de la nuit"

Méditations à l’aube de la nuit | 19-26 August

At the end of each day there will be a 20-minute candlelit meditative concert of sacred music in Thiré church.

Tickets to the Méditations cannot be bought separately from the concert that precedes them.

AFTERNOONS IN THE GARDEN

19 to 26 August (except for 22 August) | 3:30 pm - 7:15 pm

About La Fontaine

Public encounters and "promenades musicales" with Erik Orsenna

Imagined with the complicity of academician and novelist Erik Orsenna, Jean de La Fontaine's figure and work will underlie this festival's programme. Various "promenades musicales" will be dedicated to him, gathering composers of his time around themes at the core of his artistic realm such as animals, water and nature, but also witty eroticiy. This programme will also echo the release of Erik Orsenna's latest book, La Fontaine: une école buissonnière that the author will present during encounters with the public, and the radio broadcasting of the programme "Un été avec La Fontaine par Erik Orsenna" ("A summer with La Fontaine by Erik Orsenna") during August on France Inter.

Promenades musicales • 4:30 pm - 7 pm

Every afternoon, singers and musicians present short concerts in different parts of the garden.

Tickets: 8 € full price, 5 € reduced price, free for the under 3

Family workshops • 3:45 pm - 4:30 pm

Participative workshops for families, animated by artists from the Festival with links to the evening concerts.

Tours of the gardens & thematic lectures • 3:45 pm

Tours of the gardens in French or in English and thematic lectures given in one or two voices by enthusiasts of the gardens, garden specialists, art historians and authors.