Dominique Vellard


Project team “Motet Cycles”


Since 1979 Dominique Vellard has been the inspirational driving force behind the Ensemble Gilles Binchois – more than three decades of research and performance that have led to the creation of some of the essential recordings in the catalogue, especially of music from the medieval and  Renaissance periods. Dominique Vellard’s passion for music from plainchant to the 17th century was nurtured in a boychoir (‘Maîtrise de Notre-Dame’) in Versailles. In more recent years, he has expanded his interests to specific encounters with musicians from India, Morocco, Iran and Spain. An additional facet of Dominique Vellard’s musical character is on display: he presents himself as the composer of vocal works, drawing deeply on his own experience and interests in monodies and polyphonies from both the Western and the Eastern traditions. Vellard is Professor at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis since 1982 and directs in France the “Rencontres Internationales de Musique Médiévale du Thoronet”. 50 recordings punctuated his musical career.