The classical music festival Music at Beauregard is once again preparing its festivities to make your summer in the Alps truly memorable. We met with the organisers, Barthélemy and Virginie Allard, to find out more. Read on to see what they have to say!
You must be looking forward to hosting one of the first festivals after Covid! Do you expect to have a lot of people this year?
That’s always the goal! After hosting 3,500 people in 2019, we’re hoping for at least the same, maybe even more. This summer, we have a very high-end program with classical music luminaries. We’ll be welcoming Patricia Petibon to sing, Nicholas Angelich on the piano, chamber music by the Karénine Trio… However, this year we are going even further by also integrating creative projects. This alternative program promises a rather exceptional week! We are very lucky to have very famous artists who trust us. They have come very generously to offer their talents around a program on the theme of love.
The musicians must also be excited to play again in front of an audience…
Yes, the artists have expressed their happiness to be back on stage after a year and a half of silence. They all tell us that they are looking forward to it with impatience! We also decided to accommodate our artists this year. They’ve each been preparing for our big event on July 24th for several months now. This type of collaboration with artists hasn’t been done in a while. It allows them not only to play concerts, but also to live through and share their work. Everyone is eager to share this work with a live audience!
That’s so exciting! I also hear you’re expanding the range of performances this year to include dance and poetry…
That’s right! We’ve always had performances like classical music concerts or piano recitals. But we’ve always wanted to have alternative offerings like jazz – we really want to inspire our audience’s curiosity.
This year we will be introducing an electronic concerto, which is a creation with piano and voice. On July 24th, we are welcoming a group of dancers who will accompany both pianists and poetry readings. All this creates a real alternative feel; it’s not every day that you find an outdoor dance performance at an altitude of 1,500 meters! The routine was created by a choreographer of the Paris Opera, and will accompany a piano recital, as well as a poem written for the occasion. Our aim is to bring artists from a variety of disciplines together to collaborate, mixing three types of art on stage. It all sounds incredible, and it is incredible to have experienced it!
Could you tell us a little about the theme of the festival?
The theme for this year’s festival is love; this seemed important to us after 18 months of lockdowns! The idea was to have a proposal that speaks to everyone. To bring this to light, we invited the poet Joséphine Vernay, who has written a collection of poems completely tailored to the festival. These will feed into several of the music performances, lending Joséphine the opportunity to present her work on stage. But above all, we didn’t want an event where artists get on stage and leave just as quickly; we really wanted a program that is from both the body and heart.
How did you make your festival accessible to everyone – families, tourists, locals, and so on?
Our programme is intentionally accessible; we didn’t want to create something elitist. Quite the opposite! The idea is that our audience really participates in a whole evening of music, celebration and community. Our pricing includes champagne for everyone at the interval, a dinner provided for all, and a concert – all for 25-30 euros! Plus, everything is included in a beautiful location, with the stage on the Beauregard plateau, and the Mont Blanc as a backdrop.
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We also have different entry points. Not only are there evening concerts, but you can also get into the music through:
- Our musical walks
- Free concerts in the region’s resorts
- Our masterclasses
- Meetings with the artists
It is really accessible in terms of pricing, programming, and educational events. It allows everyone to discover the world of classical music in a different way! You can find these programs in the “find out more” section of our website. The goal is to spread the festival beyond Beauregard, and to make the music available throughout the region.
Could you tell us more about your family workshops?
The idea that anyone can benefit from our proposals is very important to us. Therefore, we decided to organise workshops for children to allow them to understand the music on a deeper level. There will be a school teacher who is passionate about music leading these pre-concert workshops. We believe that this educational approach will help take the public towards this culture which is really dear to us. Ultimately, that is why we want to make our classical music festival as accessible as possible.
In addition to these workshops, we’ve founded an academy for very young musicians. They will play with 4 hands, and work on a whole repertoire to perform at the weekend. We also have a class of excellence for our talented musicians; these young people will also come and practice during the week. Then, all the students will go on stage to present their pieces in a free concert at the end of the programme. You can find more information as well as the registration form on our website.
That sounds great! We’re all looking forward to seeing how the festival turns out.
We are too! And in case of bad weather, we have fallbacks for all the evening concerts. Our events are never cancelled – we always have a solution, right up until the last minute! And even when the weather is bad, experience shows that it’s just as welcoming, and lends us even more unforgettable moments.
This classical music festival is very important to us. We really wanted to focus on creativity to promote these artists and encourage them to put their work forward. It’s a real investment on behalf of the festival to offer the public what promises to be an exceptional week. We look forward to welcoming you!
Located in the heart of the Aravis mountains, Music at Beauregard guarantees you an unforgettable summer. If the festival at Beauregard is on your summer to-do list, then take a look at our fantastic properties on offer nearby!
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