Musique en Othe

Musique en Othe, an association at the heart of Pays d'Othe since 2001

Founded on November 22, 2001, in Cerisiers, in the Sénonais region, the Musique en Othe association set out to bring live music closer to the people of Pays d'Othe. In this rural village of a few hundred inhabitants nestled between Sens and Troyes, at the crossroads of the Yonne and Aube departments, the association enthusiastically fills a cultural void that the large performance halls of neighboring cities cannot.

Run by a handful of passionate volunteers, including its founder and president Élisabeth Loison, the association offers an eclectic and carefully chosen program each season, with about ten concerts and musical shows per year. Its events primarily take place in the village hall and the room under the town hall in Cerisiers, right in the heart of the village, on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville.

An eclectic and curious program

What characterizes Musique en Othe above all is the diversity of its artistic offerings. The association does not limit itself to a single musical genre and instead cultivates curiosity open to all sound horizons: jazz, French chanson, world music, Latin jazz, Celtic and traditional music, piano bar, choral singing, musical theater, instrument discovery shows for young audiences.

Discovery concerts for all audiences

One of the most popular formats in the program is the discovery concert, designed to introduce the audience to little-known instruments and repertoires. In February 2026, for example, the duo Bertrand Bobin and Michel Veldan from the Compagnie du Beau Vert presented *À tous vents*, a musical journey through the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany, introducing bagpipes, drones, bombarde, bugle, and clarinet in a friendly and participatory atmosphere.

Jazz, chanson, and tributes

The 2024-2025 season perfectly illustrates the association's eclectic ambition. It began in the fall with Felipe Quemao (October 2024), offering a salsa and Latin jazz concert, followed by a vibrant tribute to Claude Nougaro in November 2024. In March 2025, the Piano-Bar evening with Philippe Brulé — a pianist and singer with a forty-year international career — offered an intimate musical journey blending savory anecdotes from his *Mémoires d'un pianiste de bar*, covers of Ray Charles and Polnareff, and duets with his wife Marianne. In May 2025, the Concert of the 3 choirs brought together three vocal groups for a festive and fraternal gathering.

Festive and dancing evenings

The association also knows how to offer more festive and dancing evenings. In March 2025, the Trio Latino — Sergio Roa Brith, Fernando Roa, and Magaly Velasco — invited the audience on a musical journey through Latin American rhythms. In November 2021, the Tontons Swingers set the village hall ablaze with their jazz-swing covers of Eddy Mitchell's repertoire, in a lively and popular concert applauded by a full house.

Choral singing, a pillar of the association

Beyond organizing external concerts, Musique en Othe is deeply involved in local music education and practice. The association offers music and choral singing classes throughout the year in Cerisiers. These activities allow many residents of Pays d'Othe, regardless of their level, to discover or improve their musical skills.

Choral singing is one of the pillars of the association's activities, with choristers regularly participating in concerts organized throughout the seasons. These choral concerts, often held in partnership with groups from other villages in the Sénonais region, help build connections between cultural associations throughout the territory.

Cerisiers and the Pays d'Othe

Cerisiers is a commune in the Sénonais region, in the south of the Yonne department, on the borders of the Pays d'Othe — a forest massif shared between the Aube and Yonne departments, a land of hedgerows, orchards, and quiet villages where associative culture forms the core of social life. Musique en Othe's action is part of a tradition of voluntary cultural engagement that animates many rural villages in this region, far from the major cultural facilities of the cities.

By bringing professional artists to a small village hall, by charging accessible prices for everyone (often €10 for adults, €5 for teenagers, free for children under 12), the association contributes to a local cultural model, precious for families and seniors in the area who do not easily travel to Sens, Auxerre, or Troyes.

A lean structure serving a community

A registered association operating under the live performing arts regime (NAF code 9001Z), Musique en Othe is run by an entirely volunteer team and a modest budget. Ticket sales, memberships, and municipal support constitute the bulk of its resources. This structural leaness, far from being a weakness, guarantees the artistic freedom of the programming and the association's deep roots in its community. For over twenty years, Musique en Othe has proven that live culture can flourish everywhere, even in the most remote villages, as long as it is driven by the conviction and generosity of a few enthusiasts.