Musical direction
The benefits of working in pairs
Since 2023, the Chœur d'Oratorio de Lyon has had a double musical leadership, with Catherine Molmerret and Philippe Forget bringing passion and experience, listening and openness. These two choirmasters are joined by Grégory Kirche, pianist, accompanist and vocal coach, who has been involved in the ensemble's development for many years.
Catherine Molmerret and Philippe Forget share the conducting duties depending on the programme, a way of cultivating the choir's adaptability and responsiveness. The choir must develop and maintain its musical, vocal and technical qualities in order to meet the demands of the different conductors and repertoires with which it is entrusted with.
These qualities are achieved through the unconditional commitment of its singers, not only vocally, but also on a human level: voices can only give their best when the working environment is both demanding and fulfilling.
"From the very first work session, the challenge is to get the singers to understand the structure of the work, so that in addition to the essential setting of notes, rhythm, dynamics and accuracy, they immediately work on the sound, phrasing, intelligibility and expression of the text. In the end, it is every singer who 'defends' the work in public: the individual understanding of the colours, impulses and suspense that punctuate a work allows the group, as large as it may be, to be tenfold more homogeneous and effective.
The conductor therefore has a duty to work with infinite care on this common impetus that makes great musical achievements possible."
-- Catherine Molmerret
Philippe Forget, choral director
Choir and orchestra conductor as well as composer, Philippe Forget is passionate about theatre and the voice. A regular guest of the Opéra National de Lyon between 2008 and 2018, he conducted Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, B. Blacher's Romeo et Juliette, Copland's The Tender Land, Respighi's Sleeping Beauty, the premiere of Combier's Terre et Cendres, Glass's La Colonie Pénitentiaire, and more.
Since 2020, he has been an associate artist of the Limoges Opera.
He conducts the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Orquestra Sinfonica Campinas/Sao Paulo, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Orchestre National de Bretagne, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre National d'Auvergne, the Opéra de Limoges, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the Orchestre Lamoureux...
He performs at numerous festivals and programmes in France and abroad: Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Ramsgate and Edinburgh Festivals, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and New Atheneum Theater in Glasgow, ENARTE and Theatro da Paz Festivals (Brazil), French May in Hong Kong, Beacon Theater Broadway and Brandeis University in New York, GAMO Festivals in Florence, Ambronay, Automne en Normandie, Radio-France, Cité de la Musique and Studio de l'Opéra de Paris, Théâtre du Châtelet, Francofolies de La Rochelle, Les Vieilles Charrues. ..
An eclectic and passionate musician, his projects have led him to create and perform alongside artists such as Jane Birkin, Iggy Pop, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Oxmo Puccino, Alain Chamfort and Monica Bellucci, as well as choreographers Thierry Thieu-Niang and Dominique Hervieu...
Philippe Forget is the artistic director of the
Labeaume en Musiques festival.
Catherine Molmerret : choral director
A choral director as well as a singer and teacher, Catherine Molmerret has taught at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre.
She directed the Chorale Mixte Universitaire de Lyon, and in 1998 Bernard Tétu called her to assist him with the Chœurs et Solistes de Lyon-Bernard Tétu. It was within this structure that she was entrusted with the direction of the Chœur d'Oratorio de Lyon and the preparation of the large symphonic choir bringing together professionals and amateurs, which performs with the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Berlioz Festival.
Conducting the choir, she has worked with a number of international conductors: Serge Baudo, Gianluigi Gelmetti, David Robertson, Arie Van Beek, Peter Eötvös, Eliahu Inbal, François-Xavier Roth, Jun Märkl, Leonard Slatkin... and has prepared a large number of emblematic works from the repertoire for choir and orchestra (Haydn's Creation, Verdi's Requiem, Berlioz's Enfance du Christ, Roméo et Juliette, Lelio, Te deum and Requiem), Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Fauré's Requiem, Mahler's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 'Lobgesang', Scriabin's Prometheus, Poulenc's Stabat Mater, etc. )
Catherine Molmerret is known for her demanding and rigorous work, and places great emphasis on vocal technique within the Chœur d'Oratorio de Lyon. She constantly strives for vocal flexibility, understanding of the works and an ideal balance between intelligibility and expressiveness of words, qualities that enable the choir to offer a wide variety of repertoires.
Grégory Kirche :
piano accompanist,
vocal coach
Grégory Kirche has worked with the Choeur d'Oratorio de Lyon for many seasons and studied piano accompaniment at the CNSMD in Lyon. In 2007, he became vocal coach at the Opéra de Lyon, where he helped prepare a number of opera productions: Gretel and Hansel, based on Humperdick; Brundibar, by Kràsa; Le Tour d'écrou, by Britten; Le Roi et moi, by Rodgers, etc.
He also works with the Chœur de jeunes du Centre de la Voix Rhône-Alpes, and occasionally performs in small ensembles: Britten's
Noah's Ark, arranged for piano and percussion;
Off Offenbach, with the Percussions Claviers de Lyon;
Toast du Nouvel An with piano, actor and 5 young singers (Théâtre des Marronniers production); Festival Piano d'Automne for piano à Quatre Mains, with Orianne Milliery...