Spirito is a chamber choir based in Lyon, France which, under the impulse of its musical director Nicole Corti, serves the vocal repertoire with an approach that is resolutely anchored in our times. Spirito was born from the fusion of two professional ensembles: the Chœurs et Solistes de Lyon (conducted by Bernard Tétu) and the Chœur Britten (conducted by Nicole Corti). The main orientations of the artistic project are based on a renewed vision of the concert and on reaching all audiences. Thus, the choir proposes a diversified repertoire, from Bach to the composers of today, and brings together new or unknown works and recognized masterpieces. With the same intention, Nicole Corti and her singers develop projects which explore physical and vocal presence in new forms of expression. In one of their most recent projects Spirito invited international composer, filmmaker and «creator of movement» Thierry De Mey to collaborate with them.
In its full form, the choir brings together 32 singers. This ensemble can be divided into several chamber sizes - from 12 to 24 singers - but can also be extended to a symphonic choral format. The professional singers perform alongside young singers who are beginning their professional training and also join with amateur singers. The interpretation of works that bring these singers together thus acts as a catalyst for choral singing throughout the region.
Spirito focuses on the transmission of choral music through the Jeune Choeur Symphonique, a framework for exchanges and professional placement, thus accompanying young musicians in their training for careers as singers or choral conductors. It allows young singers to work with professional
singers and major orchestras and conductors, leading some of them to progress towards professional choirs. In addition to its musical objective, this programme is also a reflection of the role of music, and more generally of art, in our society; the young singers gain experience in the cultural programmes developed by Spirito and include outreach in their future projects. Thanks to its openness and its flexibility, Spirito can lead artistic and cultural outreach projects adapted to wide audiences throughout the new regional territory, but also in France and abroad. The choir is particularly open to working with children and youth, as well as with the underprivileged: a choral project for the children of Isère, workshops for artistic creation and practices for school children in underprivileged areas of the Greater Lyon, a choral conducting academy in the Pays de Savoie, a vocal academy in Auvergne, the Ouïe le Jeudi concerts, readings, master classes in the regions, in France and abroad, and interventions in prisons.
Spirito's projects include Un Requiem imaginaire with Jean-François Zygel, which brings together sacred repertoire masterpieces and piano improvisations with staged movements by Jean-Pierre Jourdain and lighting by Jacques-Benoît Dardant; Valsez maintenant, in which Thierry De Mey will inspire movement and scenography with Brahms, Chopin or Lehár, with the complicity of classical pianist Guillaume Coppola, jazz pianist Thomas Enhco and arranger Bruno Fontaine; and finally, Regarde ici-bas, commissioned by Spirito and the MC2 Grenoble, in which the works of Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka will confront those of Jean-Sébatien Bach in a reflection on the ties between music and politics, the wounds of humanity and the planet.
