Fêtes Musicales de Savoie

The Fêtes Musicales de Savoie: over thirty years of classical music in the Alps

Created in the early 1990s by Michel Wolkowitsky, a trained violinist and conductor, the Fêtes Musicales de Savoie has established itself as one of the most enduring and endearing classical music festivals in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Every summer, from mid-July to mid-August, the festival unfolds its program in about twenty locations spread across the entire Savoie department.

The uniqueness of the Fêtes Musicales lies in its traveling nature: concerts take place alternately in Courchevel, in the resorts of Tarentaise, in the villages of Maurienne, in Chambéry, and in the surrounding valleys. This itinerant approach allows it to reach a large and diverse audience—vacationers, residents, passing music lovers—while promoting the architectural and natural heritage of Savoie.

A high-level classical program

Michel Wolkowitsky, who has been the artistic director of the festival since its inception, designs a program each year that combines the great works of the classical and romantic repertoire with rarer musical discoveries. The festival offers about twenty concerts per edition, in various formations: piano recitals, chamber music, string quartets, instrumental ensembles, and symphonic concerts.

Exceptional venues

The concerts of the Fêtes Musicales de Savoie take place in remarkable venues for their acoustics and heritage setting: baroque churches of Tarentaise, mountain resort auditoriums, chapels of Maurienne, historic halls of Chambéry. This diversity of venues offers listeners a renewed experience at each concert and contributes to the cultural influence of Savoie.

A festival rooted in the Savoie territory

The Fêtes Musicales de Savoie plays an essential role in the cultural enrichment of the department, bringing classical music to often remote towns and valleys far from major urban centers. The festival benefits from the support of the Savoie Department, host municipalities, and tourist offices, and brings together a loyal audience composed of permanent residents and summer visitors.

Transmission and accessibility

Committed to transmission and openness, the festival strives to offer accessible prices and to accompany concerts with moments of exchange between musicians and the public. Some concerts are free, and presentations of works allow newcomers to discover the classical repertoire in privileged conditions.