Orchestre à soi

What do Hildegard Von Bingen, Francesca Caccini and Alma Mahler have in common? They are composers who have been unjustly forgotten. Religious prohibitions, social constraints, erasure from history... silence has been imposed on female composers, as it has on female creators in general. To bring their music to a wider audience, artist Léa Chevrier and director Laureline Amanieux have created Un Orchestre à Soi: an exhibition in the form of a sound and documentary installation. This exhibition offers a sensory experience in three stages: a sound work to discover, karaoke to participate in, and a documentary series to understand. Enter a ghost orchestra to listen to a spatialised electroacoustic work that combines songs written by women since the 12th century. These voices are broadcast through vibrating music stands. Initially silenced, they gradually fight to reclaim their place. Around you, transparent veils and woodblock prints reveal portraits of female composers, as well as their letters, diaries, dreams, and more... Then, learn excerpts from songs written by great female composers using karaoke and lend your voice to the installation! Your singing will be analysed in real time and can then be incorporated into the soundscape, which grows richer with each visit. Finally, watch a documentary series that traces the careers of eight great female composers. Through eight pop-inspired and educational episodes (five minutes each), learn why these composers were excluded from history despite their brilliant careers. An installation by Léa Chevrier and Laureline Amanieux Produced by Circé production et narrative, in partnership in France with the Centre National de la Musique, with the support of CNC Talents, Procirep-Angoa and SACEM, the Normandy Region, France Télévision with France 3 Normandie, as well as DRAC Bretagne, the City of Paris, the City of Rennes Creation Grant, and the Ministry of Culture. Winner of the Rennes Métropole Créativité croisée call for projects, and finalist for the 2025 Prix Numix in Quebec. Léa Chevrier, a graduate of ENS Louis-Lumière in sound, explores the narrative possibilities of spatialised sound. She works in particular in the fields of podcasting and soundscapes (Audible, Arte Radio, France Culture, Louie Media, narrative). Trained in early music and sensitive to feminist issues, she has devoted herself for several years to rediscovering female composers through creations such as Trobairitz (a sound journey in the footsteps of the Countess of Die for the Abbey of Sorde) and the performance Maddalena morir non può (based on the work of Maddalena Casulana). Un Orchestre à Soi is her first sound installation. Laureline Amanieux is a writer and director of audiovisual documentaries and podcasts, collaborating in particular with ARTE, France Télévisions and Audible. With a PhD in Modern Literature, she develops works that combine narrative rigour and cultural transmission. Highlighting the audacious journeys of women, she is the author of a novel about the little-known fate of a poetess from the early 20th century (published by Albin Michel, to be released in early 2027) and she is directing the documentary series Un Orchestre à Soi.

Main organizer(s): neimënster

Opening on June 29 at 6:30 p.m., 

Free admission upon registration: [email protected]