Voix de Stras'

The repertoire is the signature of Voix de Stras': totally vocal, it is tailor-made and skillfully mixes all types of music: contemporary works, classical tunes and traditional songs.

Mosaics by Catherine Bolzinger

The vocal mosaics by Catherine Bolzinger revisit the songs of our collective memory: classic tunes, popular or traditional songs. Catherine Bolzinger writes and customizes them for the singers of Voix de Stras’, adding her own personal touch based on her love for voices and contemporary writing. Ultimately, there are more than forty tunes accessible to everyone, revisited by virtuoso artists.

Well-known classical tunes:

Marioupol, after Solveig’s song by Edvard Grieg and the Ukrainian national anthem
John Dowland, Flow my tears
Henry Purcell, Cold song
Gabriel Fauré, Les berceaux
Jules Massenet, Laisse couler tes larmes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Voi que sapete
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Das Klinget, from Magic Flute
Kurt Weill / Georges Bizet, Franco-German Habanera
Burlone, from Giuseppe Verdi, Paul Misraki et les traditions du Venezuela

Popular songs:

from Line Renaud and Clément Janequin, Ma cabane aux oiseaux
from Paul Misraki, Tout va très bien Madame la marquise
from Georges Brassens : Les passantes, La prière, Je m’suis fait tout ptit, La ronde des jurons
from Edith Piaf : Non rien de rien, La foule
from Charles Aznavour, Emmenez-moi
from Charles Trenet, L’âme des poètes
from Jeanne Moreau, Tourbillon de la vie
from Henri Salvador, Une chanson douce
from Jacques Brel, Quand on n’a que l’amour
from Marie Paule Belle, Wolfgang et moi
from Fabienne Thiebault, On dort les uns contre les autres
from les Beatles, All you need is love
from France Gall, Résiste

Traditional songs from all over the world:

Aux marches du palais
Bella Ciao
L’estaca, Catalan freedom anthem
Podul di piatra, Romanian song
Berash berash, Chechen song
Yamunai attrile, Tamil romance
Azerbaijani nursery rhyme
Yumayeki, Fulani rhyme
Que notre Alsace est belle, Alsatian song
Arsomo baba, Moroccan rhyme
Dandini, Turkish lullaby
Twinckle little star, English lullaby
Tbiliso, Georgian song
Armenian and Yiddish lullabies
Greensleeves

Collaboration with contemporary composers

Voix de Stras’ has developed a close working relationship with composers through commissions, creations and recordings.

Lionel Ginoux (1978-)

Make me a dream, first performance in 2015 in Rio de Janeiro
Stabat mater speciosa, commissioned by Voix de Stras’, , first performance in 2017 in Betharram
Le roi a fait battre tambour, based on a traditional French song, first performance in 2017

Arturo Gervasoni (1962-)

Paralangage, version for 4 voices, first performance by Voix de Stras’ at the Reims Opera
Les quatre saisons se déchaînent, commissioned by Voix de Stras’, first performance in 2019

Clara Olivares (1993-)

Spectre des nuits, 2013, first performance by Voix de Stras’ in Strasbourg
Nebula, version with flute, 2014, first performance by Voix de Stras’ in Chicago
Nebula, version with clarinet, 2015, first performance by Voix de Stras’ in Strasbourg
Ammos, commissioned by Voix de Stras’, to be premiered in 2022

Composers whose works were first performed by Voix de Stras’ and are now part of Voix de Stras’ repertoire:

Nikolet Burzynska (1989-), La féminité, first performance in 2013 in Strasbourg, recording in 2015

Ivan Solano (1973-), Kyogen, commissioned by Voix de Stras’, first performance in 2014 in Chicago, recorded in 2015

Tom Mays (1966-)

Nonsense, commissioned by Voix de Stras’, first performance, voice + electro version, in 2017 in Reims

Tours et détours, Outro, Intro, Skratchligeti, … : electronic pieces based on voice recordings, commissioned by Voix de Stras’ in 2015

Alexandra Grimal (1980-), commissioned by Voix de Stras’, to be premiered in 2022

Voix de Stras’ has performed and/or recorded:

Pascal Zavaro (1959-), Raison Labiale

Georges Aperghis (1945-), Récitations ; Quatuor, extract from Strasbourg instantanés, recorded in 2015

Meredith Monk (1942-), Three Heavens and Hells

Olli Kortekangas (1955-), Three Fiord Sketches, recorded in 2015

Alexandre Ouzounoff (1955-), La rose rouge

Caroline Marçot (1974-), Cantar del alma

Patrick Burgan (1960-), Soleils ; Reverie

Simon Bolzinger (1967-), Rondes déjantées, two tracks recorded in 2020, live performance to come

Ramon Lazkano (1968-), Chansons basques

Steve Reich (1936-), Clapping music

Alberto Grau (1937 -), Dolorosa / Flor de la miel

Andrea Manzoli (1977-), Luz, first performance by Voix de Stras’ in 2006, recorded in 2010

Christophe Bertrand (1981-2010), Ioa, first performance by Catherine Bolzinger with the vocal ensemble of the Conservatoire de Strasbourg in 2003; recorded by Voix de Stras’ in 2010

Sergio Roberto de Oliveira (1970-2017), Alma, recorded in 2015

John Cage (1912- 1992), Story, recorded in 2015

Voix de Stras’ have also performed works by Hildegarde von Bingen, Komitas, Brahms, Bartok, Caplet and Stravinsky.