Alia Mens & Olivier Spilmont
Biography Alia Mens & Olivier Spilmont
Alia Mens
brings together singers and instrumentalists practicing on historical instruments under the direction of Olivier Spilmont. Alia Mens' first album, "La Cité Céleste", devoted to 3 Weimar Cantatas by J.S. Bach (Cantatas BWV 12, 18 and 161) and released in 2017, was received with real enthusiasm by critics, including Gramophone, France Musique ("coup de coeur" of several broadcasts), RTBF , Musik WDR, and the BBC, which broadcast one of its concerts in their series "Europe's Best Concerts of the Year". The reception given by critics, programmers and the public to his work on the works of Bach shows that the ensemble is capable of bringing a new light and reading of these works, which finds its audience. Alia Mens has been identified by critics for its depth, its sobriety, its expressive and poetic accuracy. These qualities give the listener an intimate access to these works and make him more sensitive and open to listening. For Alia Mens, interpreting Bach's sacred music today is not only a matter of knowledge. It is a matter, beyond the religious beliefs of each person, of finding that incredibly intense energy of persuasion which allows everyone, listener and performer alike, to tear themselves away from the everyday to propel themselves into the revelatory power of the moment. Alia Mens has been performing for several years on national and international stages (Bozar - Brussels, Salle Bourgie in Montreal, Quebec, Opéra de Lille, Théâtre d'Arras, Phenix in Valenciennes, La Barcarolle in Saint Omer, le Bateau Feu in Dunkerque, Teatro de Vicenza... ) and in festivals such as the Festival of Ambronay, International Festival of Baroque Music of Valetta in Malta, Tage Alter Muzik of Regensburg, Festival Music and Memory, Midsummer Festival, Festival Jean de la Fontaine, Festival Music and Nature in Bauges, Festival of the Abbeys in Lorraine...
For the 2021/2022 season, Alia Mens will undertake its first opera production with Henry Purcell's King Arthur, and will take a step aside by exploring the a capella repertoire of Arvo Pärt. The 2022/2023 season sees the release of Alia Mens' second album, Anti-Melancholicus, devoted to three new cantatas by J.S. Bach, as well as a first foray into the repertoire of W.A. Mozart. Alia Mens is in residence in Boulogne-sur-Mer since September 2021. Alia Mens is supported by the DRAC Hauts de France, the Région Hauts-de-France and the Département du Pas-de-Calais, and benefits from the support of the Caisse des Dépôts for its projects. The ensemble is in residence in Boulogne-sur-Mer and is a member of FÉVIS.
