Accentus

Created in 1997 in Toulouse, the chamber choir les éléments, directed by its founder Joël Suhubiette has established itself, in just a few years, as one of the leading ensembles in the French choral environment. In 2005, the choir won the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for choral singing awarded by the Fine Arts Academy of the French Institute, and it was awarded best Ensemble of the Year in 2006 at the Victoires de la Musique Classique (awards ceremony that recognizes outstanding performances in the classical music field).

• The chamber choir les éléments

  They perform in Toulouse, its region Midi-Pyrénées, in the most prestigious venues in France and also abroad. For instance, they were invited to Canada, the USA, Lebanon, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Egypt, Great Britain, Netherlands, and Tunisia etc… .
  
  Les elements aims to embody a high level instrument serving contemporary creation and defending the a cappella repertoire. Thus, they create great works by Zad Moultaka, Alexandros Markéas, Pierre Jodlowski, Patrick Burgan, Ivan Fedele, Philippe Hersant, Vincent Paulet, Pierre-Adrien Charpy, Ton That Tiêt… They perform pieces by Mantovani, Harvey, Berio, Messiaen, Dallapiccola, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Britten, Martin, Hindemith… as well as oratorios and the great choral repertoire from the past centuries.
  
  Joël Suhubiette is also interested in reinstating the antique music repertoire. The chamber choir performs Bach (Mass in B, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas, Motets), Monteverdi (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin), Schütz and Purcell, many works by Mozart, Haydn and other French baroque composers. The ensemble also sings diverse pieces of the French and German romantic repertoire. They are occasionally joined by the Ensemble Jacques Moderne from Tours for the double choir baroque repertoire.
  
  The chamber choir les éléments is frequently invited by orchestras and performs under the direction of Jérémie Rhorer, Emmanuel Krivine, Christophe Rousset, Philippe Herreweghe, Josep Pons, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Michel Plasson, Philippe Nahon… and also performs regularly, for its season in Toulouse, with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre de chambre de Toulouse Orchestra and les Passions – the Orchestre baroque de Montauban.
  
  Since 2008, the choir is often invited to perform in various well-known Parisian theaters like the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées.
  
  Directed by Joël Suhubiette, les éléments records with several labels like L’Empreinte Digitale, Hortus, Virgin Classics and Naïve and is featured on records of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, les Passions- the Orchestre baroque de Montauban, the Chambre Philharmonique and the Ensemble Matheus.
  
  The chamber choir les éléments is recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Communication – DRAC (Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs) Occitanie, by the Occitanie Regional Council and the Mayor of Toulouse. It receives subsidies from the General Council of the Haute-Garonne department. It is supported by the SACEM, the SPEDIDAM, the ADAMI and Musique Nouvelle en Liberté. Mécénat Musical Société Générale is the main sponsor of the chamber choir les éléments. Les éléments are member of the FEVIS, the PROFEDIM and Futurs Composés.
  



• Joël Suhubiette

  After studying music at the University of Toulouse and the Conservatoire de Toulouse, Suhubiette started his career by singing with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie, then with Philippe Herreweghe’s two choirs: La Chapelle Royale in Paris, and Collegium Vocale Gent in Belgium. This was to be a decisive meeting for in 1990 Herreweghe gave him the role of assistant and over the following eight years, Suhubiette worked on a large repertoire representing four centuries of vocal music..
  
  At the same time, in 1993, he succeeded Jean-Pierre Ouvrard as the conductor of the vocal and instrumental Ensemble Jacques Moderne in Tours, performing early European music spanning over two centuries, from Renaissance polyphony to Baroque vocal music.
  
  In 1997, in Toulouse, he founded the Chamber choir Les Eléments, consisting of 16 to 40 singers, to perform contemporary creations, the 19th and 20th century a cappella repertoire, and masterpieces of baroque and classical oratorios. In 2006, Les Eléments was awarded Ensemble of the Year at the Victoire de la Musique Classique awards ceremony and today is recognised as one of France’s greatest choirs.
  
  With his two ensembles, Joël Suhubiette has frequently appeared in the principal French regional venues and festivals, and in Paris (Cité de la Musique, Théâtre du Chatelet, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées…). He has toured throughout Europe (Spain, Portugal, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latvia, Czech Republic…), Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Japan, and the Americas (USA, Canada, Colombia). He has recorded more than 25 albums with many labels such as Virgin Classics, Hortus, Caliope, Ligia, Naïve, l’Empreinte Digitale and more recently, Mirare.
  
  In addition to his vocal work, he has also conducted several major French orchestras and instrumental ensembles (Café Zimmermann, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Chambre de Toulouse, Les Passions, Les Folies Françoises, Gli Incogniti, Concerto Soave, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Ensemble Ars Nova…) and as well as performing on the concert stage, he has conducted operas in Opéra de Dijon and Festival de Saint-Céré (Mozart’s Don Giovani, Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, Abduction from the Seraglio, Opera Bouffa of Offenbach, and les Caprices de Marianne by Henri Sauguet.). At the Opéra de Massy he conducted the French premiere of Kurt Weill’s "Silbersee".
  
  Since 2006, he has also been the Artistic Director of the Festival Musique des Lumières de l’Abbaye-école de Sorèze and was recently awarded the prestigious Officier des Arts et des Lettres honour by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs.



• Paroles de chefs - Joël Suhubiette