It was a pleasure to be back with Ensemble la Sportelle earlier this month, conducting the programme, Hymne à la Vierge. We had the privilege of performing in Saint-Étienne-du-Mont Church in Paris, the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Troyes, and Notre-Dame Colegiale Church in Semur-en-Auxois.
“There are evenings where sacred music goes beyond its primary function to become an inner experience. The concert “Hymne a la Vierge”, given on December 4, 2025 at the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont Church in Paris, belongs to this rare category, where listening is recollection and where beauty seems to unfold effortlessly. … At the center of all this is the direction of Owain Park, which never seeks to impose, but to reveal. His gesture seems to be born from the breath of the singers, shaping the sentences without overloading them, guiding the colors without freezing them. He obtains a delicate balance, both vertical and breathable, which magnifies the diversity of the program – from the Renaissance to more contemporary writings, including his own – while preserving a deeply spiritual unity.“- Classqiue News, Pedro Octavia Diaz
I’m looking forward to being back with Ensemble la Sportelle in the new year, for concerts featuring our new programme Media Vita. This programme explores the themes of death and hope, with Kerensa Briggs’s Media vita , inspired by an 11th-century Gregorian antiphon, at it’s centre. For more details, please see my diary page.
About Hymne a la Vierge
For centuries, the figure of the Virgin Mary has inspired composers, whether from the Gregorian tradition, the Renaissance, or contemporary music. This programme highlights this continuity by juxtaposing the luminous polyphonies of Victoria, Byrd, and Brumel with the more modern visions of Górecki, Tavener, and Owain Park himself.
The pure and soaring harmonies of Renaissance masters, imbued with fervor and balance, find a fascinating echo in the works of the 20th and 21st centuries, where contemplation gives way to striking emotional intensity.