Festival Baroque de Tarentaise

The Festival Baroque de Tarentaise: over thirty years of music in a heritage setting

Since its creation in 1992, the Festival Baroque de Tarentaise (formerly Festival de Tarentaise) has established itself as one of the most unique baroque music festivals in France. Its peculiarity? Offering concerts exclusively in the baroque churches and chapels of the Tarentaise and Beaufortain valleys, jewels of the 17th and 18th century Savoyard heritage, adorned with gilded altarpieces, frescoes, and exceptionally rich trompe-l'oeil decorations.

Under the artistic direction of Jean-Luc Hyvoz, the festival programs about fifteen concerts each summer spread across a dozen emblematic locations, from Albertville-Conflans to Tignes-les-Boisses, including Moûtiers, Bozel, Aime-la-Plagne, Peisey-Nancroix, Séez, and Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise. The greatest international baroque ensembles and soloists perform in these historic buildings, where the natural acoustics of the stone amplify and enhance the sounds of ancient instruments.

A program balancing repertoire fidelity and artistic openness

The Tarentaise Festival is distinguished by the quality and boldness of its programming. While the baroque repertoire — Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Scarlatti, Rameau, Monteverdi — forms the foundation of each edition, the festival is not afraid to build bridges to other aesthetics. In 2025, the 34th edition titled “Mirrors” confronted baroque music with other artistic currents, offering alongside traditional concerts an electro-baroque show and a baroque-Bolivian ball, demonstrating the vitality and creativity of the artistic project.

Guest ensembles and artists

The festival hosts leading ensembles from the international baroque scene each year. The 2025 edition notably brought together the Ensemble Amarillis, The Gesualdo Six, the Concert Idéal, the Ensemble Alkymia, the Ensemble Céladon, L'Achéron, les Temps présents, the Ensemble Voces Suaves, the Compagnie Rassegna, the Ensemble Sarbacanes, and La Capriola, under the direction of renowned conductors and musicians such as Loris Barrucand.

A touring festival at the heart of Savoyard baroque heritage

Tarentaise boasts one of the highest concentrations of baroque buildings in the entire Alps. The Tarentaise Festival is intimately linked to this heritage: each concert is designed to resonate with its venue, creating a unique dialogue between music and architecture. Listeners are invited to discover these sometimes little-known churches and chapels, accessible only during the festival, transforming each concert into a true sensory and cultural experience.

Festival venues

Among the festival's emblematic venues are the Cathedral of Moûtiers, the church of the medieval city of Conflans (Albertville), the chapel of Peisey-Nancroix, the church of Bozel, the church of Séez, the chapel of Villargerel, the auditorium of La Léchère, the church of Courchevel-Saint-Bon, and the chapel of Tignes-les-Boisses.