Supporting the Spring Festival is an opportunity for the Etrillard Foundation to encourage the public to explore baroque music in the exceptional setting of medieval churches in southern Vendée.
An iconic event of the Festival, the Concerts & Café allow artists from Les Arts Florissants to introduce a work during a short morning concert. This is followed by a friendly time of sharing between artists and the public over coffee in the heart of the Artists’ Quarter.
In addition to Johann Sebastian Bach, the program for the 2022 edition highlighted the sacred works of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), commemorating the 350th anniversary of his passing. Harpsichordist Béatrice Martin performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, while her colleague Justin Taylor played from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.
In 2023, the Etrillard Foundation is supporting the Spring Festival’s Concerts & Café for the second time.
This year, the festival’s theme was one of the greatest English baroque composers: Henry Purcell. The two Concerts & Café took place on the mornings of April 29 and 30 at the magnificent church of Saint-Juire-Champgillon in Vendée.
Harpsichordist and organist Benoît Hartoin, a loyal collaborator of Les Arts Florissants, performed a program entitled “Untimely Death,” honoring Purcell, but also Alessandro Stradella, Louis Couperin, and Mozart. Two young performers, American violinist Augusta McKay Lodge and harpsichordist Florian Carré, offered a virtuoso program of violin sonatas by Purcell and his contemporaries.