History of the Festival
The Nancy International Festival of Choral Music was
launched in Nancy in 1979. That year, three Nancy choirs
decided to celebrate their anniversary and invited six
other choirs from neighbouring countries to join them
for the event.
It was the beginning of a great adventure.
Over the next twenty-five years, we have shared a number
of memorable moments that have steadily established the
Festival's reputation:
 2007
- XIV Festival - In opening, l'orchestre of the
Republican Guard and the Canadian singer F THIBEAUT
accompanied by the 300 chorus-singers by large the choir
by the Festival gathered 5000 people with the Zenith. 15
foreign choirs whose l'Arabie Saoudite made it possible
during 4 days more than 40 000 spectators to discover a
beautiful mosaic of the choir singing throughout the
world. The Final one, Stanislas place, with l'ensemble
of the choirs attracted more than 10 000 spectators.
2005
– The XIII Festival celebrates the Year of the Age of
Enlightenment in Nancy. The public at the Zenith warmly
welcomes the Petits Chanteurs de St Marc who rose to
fame through their film performance, and Gospel Dream.
The final evening inaugurates the reopening of a
completely renovated Place Stanislas.
2002
– The XIIth Festival starts in the Poirel Hall with a
concert by Oxford’s New College Choir and with La Vie
Parisienne directed by Gilles Ramade at the Zenith with
the Grand Choeur du Festival. All concerts attract
large, discerning and enthusiastic audiences.
2000
– For the XIth Festival a recital unique in the east of
France is held: Barbara Hendricks, known the world over,
gives a pre-Festival concert at the Zénith.
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess opens the Festival with the
Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy conducted by
John Neal Axelrod, with soloists David Lee Brewer, J.
von Duisburg, W. Fernandez and the Grand Choeur du
Festival. Nearly 6,000 spectators attend the concert in
the Nancy Zénith.
1999
– The Festival celebrates the Ecole de Nancy Year, by
organising three concerts in praise of Art Nouveau, the
Saisons du Festival. Barcelona (Montserrat), Brussels
(Jehan le Bel) and Budapest (Monteverdi) are amongst the
guest towns.
1997
– The mezzo-soprano Julia Migenes and the tenor
Christian Papis open the Xth Festival accompanied for
the first time by the Grand Choeur du Festival. They
sing Bizet's Carmen, one of Julia Migenes' favourite
works.
1995
– Attendance reaches a record level with 40,000 music-lovers
attending the concerts including 15,000 at the final
gala evening. The ever-increasing public much
appreciates the contributions by the latest countries
participating: India, Egypt, Congo...
1993
– The Festival's final gala concert inaugurates the new
Nancy Zenith's outdoor arena attracting an audience of
13,000
1991
– Choirs from all over the world, from the southernmost
tip of Latin America
1989
– 10th Anniversary Festival: the event takes its final
form with Nancy welcoming choirs from all over the world
including French overseas territories and Asia
1987
– Latin American choirs become part of the Festival
1985
– A USSR choir attends and sings with a US choir
1983
– Canadian and US choirs participate
1981
– A choir from Eastern Europe takes part for the first
time
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