Founded in 2005 by Mathieu Romano, the vocal ensemble Aedes aims to interpret the major works and lesser known pieces of the choral repertoire of the past five centuries.
Composed of seventeen to forty professional singers, Aedes has already included in its repertoire many cycles of a cappella music, has been involved in projects of oratorios and opera and has offered various programs with organ or piano.
Aedes regularly collaborates with renowned ensembles such as Le Cercle de l’Harmonie (directed by Jérémie Rhorer), les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble (directed by Marc Minkowski), Les Siècles (directed by François-Xavier Roth) or the Latvian Radio Choir.
Aedes, in residence at the Imperial Theater of Compiègne, the Theater of Auxerre, and the Voice City of Vézelay, has already performed in many prestigious places like the Salle Pleyel, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Royal Opera of Versailles, the Festivals of Saint-Denis, Chaise-Dieu, Ambronay or Radio-France, as well on several national French stages. In 2014, Aedes performed in two productions of the Aix-en-Provence Festival.
The music of the 20th and 21st centuries is an essential part of the ensemble’s activities. Aedes has created music by P. Hersant, T.Machuel, P. Lawson, B. Pauset, P.Fénelon, J.Harvey or A.Dumont.
The ensemble frequently invites renowned personalities of the musical world as part of the preparation of certain programs: H. Niquet for the French Baroque Music, J. Suhubiette for the a cappella repertoire of the 20th century, C. Simonpietri for the contemporary repertoire and D. Visse for the French Renaissance repertoire.
In 2007, Aedes recorded its first disc, entitled « Via crucis » and devoted to the composer Franz Liszt. Its next albums, entitled « Ludus verbalis » and devoted to the secular a cappella music of the 20th century were published under the Label Eloquentia (distributed by Harmonia Mundi) in 2011 and 2012, and were awarded a Diapason Découverte and a Diapason d’Or. The album “Instants Limites” (Aeon/Harmonia Mundi, 2013) devoted to the French composer Philippe Hersant, was also awarded a Diapason d’Or.
In 2009, Aedes was awarded the Bettencourt Prize for choral singing by the French Academy Of Fine-Arts.