Joël Suhubiette (born in 1962) is a contemporary French

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

. In particular, he conducts the chamber choir

Les Éléments Les Éléments is a professional chamber choir established in Toulouse in 1997 by choirmaster Joël Suhubiette. The choir has sung commissioned works by contemporary composers including Zad Moultaka, and Philippe Hersant. Les Éléments have ...

which he founded in Toulouse and with which he received a Victoire de la musique classique in 2006 and the Ensemble Jacques Moderne in Tours.

Biography

Born in 1962 in

Orthez Orthez (; ; , ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sai ...

, Suhubiette played the piano very early. He then went on to undertake musical studies at the . He joined the

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

department where he studied singing with John Elwes and Guillemette Laurens. At the University of Toulouse Le Mirail he studied

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

and choral conducting with Alix Bourbon, whose vocal ensemble he joined which allowed him, at a very young age, to sing under the direction of

Michel Corboz Michel Corboz (14 February 1934 – 2 September 2021) was a Swiss conductor. Life Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland, and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He studied vocal performance and composition at the conservatory in Fribourg ...

Jean-Claude Malgoire Jean-Claude Malgoire (25 November 1940 – 14 April 2018) was a French oboist and later conductor. Early life Malgoire was born on 25 November 1940 in Avignon, France. His mother was born in Italy. Malgoire graduated from the Paris Conservatory. ...

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

etc. It was at this time, in 1985, that he founded Les Éléments with friends singers from the Conservatoire and the university, an ensemble that later became the chamber choir he still conducts in Toulouse. He then began his professional career as a singer with Les Arts Florissants of William Christie. In 1986 his meeting with

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from ...

played a decisive role: for twelve years he sang in his ensembles – La Chapelle Royale and the Collegium Vocale Gent – with which he took part in more than thirty recordings and discovered the diversity of the vocal repertoire to which the Belgian conductor devoted himself with his two prestigious choirs. Soon, Philippe Herreweghe made him his assistant and he was entrusted with the preparation of the choir for productions and recordings. In 1993, Suhubiette took over the management of the Ensemble Jacques Moderne, whose founder

Jean-Pierre Ouvrard Jean-Pierre Ouvrard (16 February 1948 in Trémentines (Maine-et-Loire) – 13 November 1992 in Tours (Indre-et-Loire)) was a French musicologist, music educator, researcher at the François Rabelais University and choral conductor. He founded the ...

died at the end of 1992. It was the beginning of a new musical adventure that immersed him in the universe of ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

of the French, English and Spanish

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ''ars nova'', the mus ...

to which he dedicated some of his recordings. ( Regnard,

Jean Mouton Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the f ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, Morales). Very soon, he extended the ensemble's repertoire to the composers of the 17th and 18th centuries, giving a preponderant place to the works of the first German Baroque, (

Schein Schein is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Schein (1928–2003), French polymer chemist of Romanian origin * David D. Schein (born 1951), American author and academic * Edgar Schein (born 1928), professor at the MIT S ...

, Schütz and

Buxtehude Buxtehude (; , ), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and attached to the city's S-Ba ...

). A little later, he performed with l'Ensemble the

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

, Mass in B minor and short masses by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

s by

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, Purcell's operas (''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'', '' King Arthur)'', and the French Baroque repertoire. As early as 1997, with the chamber choir Les Éléments he conducted in Toulouse, he began conducting the ''a cappella'' repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s (Johann Sebastian Bach, Handel) classical (

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, Haydn) and commissioned a large number of works from contemporary composers (,

Ivan Fedele Ivan Fedele (born 6 May 1953 in Lecce) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory. Fedele's compositions are published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, and many of his works are recorded on Stradivarius Records. Selected works ; ...

Philippe Hersant Philippe Hersant (born 21 June 1948 in Rome) is a French composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Selected works :: Hersant's works are largely published by Éditions Durand. ;Stage * ''Le Château des Carpathes (opera), Le Châtea ...

, Pierre Jodlowski, Alexandros Markeas, Zad Moultaka, Vincent Paulet, Ton That Tiet, Antonio Chagas Rosa). He also plays Stravinsky, Poulenc, Britten, Dallapiccola, Berio, Mantovani, Dusapin. Thanks to his assiduous practice of the ''a cappella'' repertoire, the chamber choir "Les Éléments" was one of the most important choirs in France, and with it, Suhubiette performed in Europe, the US, Canada, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt. The ensemble was the guest of many conductors (

Michel Plasson Michel Plasson (born 2 October 1933, Paris, France) is a French conductor. Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. ...

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

, Christophe Coin, John Nelson,

Emmanuel Krivine Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor. Biography The son of a Polish mother and a Russian father, Krivine studied the violin as a youth. He was a winner of the ''Premier Prix'' at the Paris Conservatoire, at age 16. ...

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. Early life Foster was born in Los Angeles, California, to Romanian parents. His father died when Foster was three years old. He was later adopted by his step ...

Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski (born 4 October 1962) is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. Minkowski was musical director of Mozartwoche in Salzburg, Austria, from 2013 to 2017 and was gene ...

Jérémie Rhorer Jérémie Rhorer (born 15 July 1973 in Paris) is a French conducting, conductor and the founding artistic director of Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, a period instrument ensemble dedicated to the music of the 18th and 19th centuries. Rhorer is also a well ...

... In 2005, l'Ensemble was laureate of the

Liliane Bettencourt Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt (; née Schueller; 21 October 1922 – 21 September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite and businesswoman. She was a board member and one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal. At the time of her ...

Prize for choral singing awarded by the Academy of Fine Arts, and in 2006, it was consecrated "Ensemble de l'année" at the Victoires de la musique classique. With his two ensembles, Suhubiette has recorded for record companies

Virgin Classics Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Music Group, however the terms o ...

Éditions Hortus Éditions Hortus is an independent French disk label, offering largely unknown songs and works for the organ in addition to contemporary compositions. Specialised in organ (music), organ and choir music, it has in particular presented disks recorded ...

Calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

, Ligia, l'Empreinte Digitale,

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

and Mirare, and many of his records have received awards and critical acclaim. He is also interested in the other vocal world of

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. He conducts Mozart's operas, ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'', ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

,'' ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

'', ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

'' (at the Dijon opéra, the

Saint-Céré Saint-Céré (; Languedocien: ''Sant Seren'') is a commune in the Lot department, southern France. The commune includes within its borders the castle of Saint-Laurent-les-Tours, where the artist Jean Lurçat lived and worked for many years, a ...

festival), the comedy operas by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

, the French premiere of Kurt Weill's ''

Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, '' G ...

'' at the Massy Opera House, ''

Les caprices de Marianne ''Les caprices de Marianne'' is a two-act opéra comique by Henri Sauguet with a French libretto by Jean-Pierre Gredy after Alfred de Musset. It was first performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1954, with the Orchestre de la Société des C ...

'' by

Henri Sauguet Henri-Pierre Sauguet-Poupard (18 May 1901 – 22 June 1989) was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux, he adopted his mother's maiden name as part of his professional pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies (1945, 1949, ...

. In the oratorio domain, the programmes led him to conduct the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre de Chambre de Toulouse, the Orchestre Baroque Les Passions, Les Folies françoises, the

Café Zimmermann The Café Zimmermann, or , was the coffeehouse of Gottfried Zimmermann in Leipzig which formed the backdrop to the first performances of many of Bach's secular cantatas, e.g. the ''Coffee Cantata'' ('' Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht''), and in ...

, Gli Incogniti,Gli Incogniti
/ref> Concerto Soave, the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, the Pau-Pays de Béarn orchestra,

Les Percussions de Strasbourg Les Percussions de Strasbourg is a contemporary classical music percussion ensemble made up of six percussionists. Founded in 1962, the ensemble is still performing and commissioning music. The current lineup has played together for 15 years. Their ...

, Ensemble Ars Nova etc. It is in this spirit of openness to several musical worlds that the Abbey-school of

Sorèze Sorèze (; ) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. Population See also * Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France. The communes cooperate in the f ...

in the Tarn département offered him in 2006 to become

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of its festival . Since 2008, Suhubiette has been teaching regularly in the choir conducting class of the

Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon The Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon (; "Lyon National Superior Conservatory of Dance and Music"; CNSMDL), often simply the Conservatoire de Lyon, is a conservatory for the study of music and dance, located in Lyon ...

. In 2014, he was awarded the rank of Officer of the

Order of Arts and Letters The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

by the French Ministry of Culture.

Discography

With the chamber choir

: * ''L'Âme slave''. Dvorak, Tchaïkovsky, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Bartok, Ligeti. (L'Empreinte Digitale) * Pierre Jodlowski. ''L'Aire du Dire'', DVD (Eole Records) * ''Méditerranée sacrée'', ancient and modern polyphonies in Latin, Arabic, Aramaic and ancient Greek (L'Empreinte Digitale) * Zad Moultaka, ''Visions'' (L'Empreinte Digitale) * Vincent Paulet, ''De Profundis & Suspiros'' (Hortus) *

, ''Œuvres pour chœur'' (Virgin Classics) * ''Shakespeare Songs''.

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, Frank Martin,

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

, William Mathias (Hortus) * Ton That Tiet, ''Les Sourires de Bouddha'' (Hortus) * ''Ave Verum'': Choral works by

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

, Jehan Alain (Naïve) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, Motets (Hortus) *

, Requiem (Hortus) *

Alfred Desenclos Alfred Desenclos (7 February 1912 – 3 March 1971) was a French composer of (modern) classical music. Desenclos was a self-described "romantic" whose music is highly expressive and atmospheric and rooted in rigorous compositional technique. To s ...

, ''Messe de Requiem & Motets'' (Hortus) With the Ensemble Jacques Moderne (after the name of the

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

nais music printer

Jacques Moderne Jacques Moderne - Giacomo Moderno (Pinguente, Istria ow Buzet, Croatia">Buzet">ow_Buzet<_a>,_Croatia.html" ;"title="Buzet.html" ;"title="ow Buzet">ow Buzet, Croatia">Buzet.html" ;"title="ow Buzet">ow Buzet, Croatia c.1495–1500 – ...

): * François Regnard, ''Motets'', Calliope *

Marco da Gagliano Marco da Gagliano (1 May 1582 – 25 February 1643) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque music, Baroque era. He was important in the early history of opera and the development of the solo and concerted madrigal (music), madrigal. Li ...

, ''Motets'', Calliope *

Clément Janequin Clément Janequin (c. 1485 – 1558) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous composers of popular chansons of the entire Renaissance, and along with Claudin de Sermisy, was hugely influential in the development o ...

, ''La Bataille de Marignan'', Calliope * Giovanni Bassano, ''Motets'', Calliope *

Eustache Du Caurroy François-Eustache du Caurroy (baptised February 4, 1549 – August 7, 1609) was a French composer of the late Renaissance. He was a prominent composer of both secular and sacred music at the end of the Renaissance, including ''musique mesurée'', ...

, ''Requiem'', Calliope *

Cristóbal de Morales Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – between 4 September and 7 October 1553) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Tomás Luis de Victoria. Life Cristóbal de Mor ...

, Francisco Guerrero, ''De Beata Virgine'', Ligia *

Giacomo Carissimi (Gian) Giacomo Carissimi (; baptized 18 April 160512 January 1674) was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the ...

, ''Jephté'', ''Jonas'', Ligia *

, ''Motets'', Ligia *

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; born Diderich Hansen Buxtehude, ; – 9 May 1707) was a Danish composer and organist of the Baroque music, Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

, ''Jesu, meine Freude'', Ligia *

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...

, ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

– Messe de Madrid'', Ligia *

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

, ''Passion Selon Saint-Marc'', Mirare

References

External links

Official website

Joël Suhubiette
on

France Inter France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...

Joël Suhubiette
on Opéra magazine

on Flâneries musicales de Reims
Joël Suhubiette
on

Radio Classique Radio Classique is a French commercial radio station created in 1983 that broadcasts mainly classical music. Its programmes also contain segments of economic and political news. As of 2015, it had 1.1 million listeners per day. Radio Classique w ...

Joël Suhubiette
on zadmoultaka
Joël Suhubiette, "Philippe Herreweghe a été la plus grande rencontre musicale de ma vie" (2/5)
on

France Musique France Musique () is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was lau ...

Joël Suhubiette
on France Musique
Joël Suhubiette
on Musique au temple
Les Éléments. Joël Suhubiette – O Vos Omnes – Victoria
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhubiette, Joel 1962 births People from Orthez Living people French choral conductors French male conductors (music) Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians