The Choir of the French Army (), commonly known as the Armed Forces Choir, is an official academic ensemble of the
Republican Guard of France. Its current director is Major
Aurore Tillac
Aurore Tillac (born in 1980) is a French choir conductor. Since 2007, she has been directing the Choir of the French Army and the Republican Guard.
Biography
Born in Miélan in the Gers department"Auch. Cette chef d'orchestre ne manque pas d'é ...
. This male-voice choir is composed of 46 professional singers.
History
It was founded in 1982 by then
Minister of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Charles Hernu
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
. The first choirmaster of the unit was
Hugues Reiner. It became a unit of the Republican Guard in 1994. Its main role is to provide musical accompaniment for state ceremonies and official commemorations.
It has given performances at the
Champs-Elysées, at the
Opéra Comique
''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...
, and at the imperial theater of
Compiègne
Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''.
Administration
Compiègne is the seat of two cantons:
* Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...
. It sometimes accompanies the
Band of the Republican Guard during concerts in France and abroad. The repertoire of the choir consists of traditional music, hymns, military songs, religious songs, and partisan songs. Members of the choir performed the
French National Anthem
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...
during the
Bastille Day military parade in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
on July 14, 2014.
[http://www.musiques-et-patrimoine.com/2013/?p=970]
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
French Army
French choirs
Military choirs