Editorial by the President
Prima ! La Donna
As the Festival evolves, I should now best talk about the 2025-2026 “Season” of the Festival Valloire Baroque, since, in addition to the Festival in July, this winter marked the launch of two cultural initiatives aimed at schoolchildren.
First, the pupils of the Valloire School embarked on an exploration of Baroque music and its instruments. They sang in a choir, practising throughout the year, until a performance concert in April, in front of their families! Supported by the Festival, with the help of the teachers, the project was developed in partnership with the Maurienne-Galibier Artistic Education Establishment (EEA) as well as artists of the ensembles Toccata e Fuga and Les nuages passent. Moreover, the “crew” brought “on board” students from the EEA in the valley as well as amateurs who rehearsed all winter long for the final public performance.
Such a wonderful adventure!
Our other project was aimed at the pupils of the Collège Paul Mougin at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, to foster in them “a taste for Baroque art in all its forms, music and architecture”. We offered them a “Discovery of Baroque” in the church of Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte, a programme combining music played by the Ensemble Toccata e Fuga and a presentation of the architecture by Amandine Robert, a tour-guide supported by the FACIM Foundation.
Another exciting challenge!
That being said, we are proud to present in July the “Prima! La Donna” programme, featuring great talents, as Gaël de Kerret explains in his editorial; and especially proud to celebrate these female musicians, true “heroines” in a male-dominated environment!
The festival is hugely indebted to those who make its success: the public, artists, patrons, partners, elected officials who subsidise the festival, the parish, hoteliers, accommodation providers, as well as the professional team and volunteers, and also the Municipality of Valloire, the Tourist Office and the Technical Services for their unfailing support.
Dominique Longchamp, Président des Amis du Festival Valloire baroque, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
Dominique Longchamp
In 2009, Dominique Longchamp brought together the founding team of the Festival Valloire baroque, a project whose main lines he had devised.The team, about twenty persons, either native of Valloire or “adopted”, rapidly evolved into an organizing team, managed, year after year, since the first season of the festival in 2010, by the initiator of the project. Today, strengthened by the cohesion and harmony of their team, the organizers are increasingly skilled in the tricks of their “trade”. They are proud to receive messages of encouragement, such as that of a Savoyard politician: “I congratulate you for the quality of the work you have achieved to promote this wonderful event that does honour to the cultural programme of the Maurienne valley." Dominique Longchamp is Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
