Ensemble Près de votre oreille
Founded in 2017 by viol player and composer Robin Pharo, the ensemble Près de votre oreille has established itself as a unique presence within the early‑music and contemporary‑music landscape. From its very first appearance at the Timișoara Early Music Festival in Romania, the ensemble asserted its identity through original programmes, such as the works for two viols by Marin Marais or Marc‑Antoine Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.
The name “Près de votre oreille” (“Close to Your Ear”), chosen for its poetry and strangeness, embodies the ensemble’s desire to share its curiosity for little‑known treasures, both ancient and contemporary, and to explore the history of the viola da gamba—whether as a solo instrument or in chamber music—from the Renaissance and Baroque eras to the present day.
Près de votre oreille is committed to renewing the classical concert experience, conducting experimental work on performance formats, interaction, and exchange with audiences. Robin Pharo and the ensemble pursue numerous artistic collaborations, notably with contemporary composers (Yassen Vodenitcharov, Rika Suzuki, Jean‑Marc Chouvel, Fabien Touchard, Philippe Hersant), as well as with dancers and musicians from other artistic worlds, such as Bobby McFerrin, the collective Code, and electronic musician Superpoze.
The ensemble has initiated creations such as Le Manuscrit de Voynich, Les Trois Ailes du Papillon, The Waves, A Byrd Celebration, Blessed Echoes, and Mes amours durent en tout temps, a project dedicated to Renaissance song that benefited from the external direction of Jeanne Desoubeaux. In 2025, the ensemble releases with the harmonia mundi label its album Lighten Mine Eyes, devoted to William Lawes’s Harp Consorts and Sacred Songs. The programme features lighting design by Thomas Coux. This year, the ensemble will present its first multidisciplinary festival, L’éveil de l’automne, in collaboration with the Ferme de Villefavard in the Limousin region, where it is based. In 2026, the ensemble commissions from Milena Csergo and Fabien Touchard a theatrical opera entitled Les vies ordinaires d’Anaïs, for a mixed ensemble of early and modern instruments.
The Société Générale corporate foundation has been supporting Près de votre oreille since 2025.
Photo credits: Victor Toussaint / William Sundfor
