HISTORY OF THE CHOIR AND ITS FOUNDER | OBJECTIVES | THE CHOIR: MEN AND WOMEN'S VOICES | HISTORY OF GREGORIAN CHANT

In 1972, Louis-Marie VIGNE (1953-2022), an organist by training, discovered Gregorian chant at the Abbey of Solesmes. With his brother and some friends, they began to sing and pray in a small chapel in Vexin, in the northeast of France.

In 1972, Louis-Marie VIGNE (1953-2022), an organist by training, discovered Gregorian chant at the Abbey of Solesmes. With his brother and some friends, they began to sing and pray in a small chapel in Vexin, in the northeast of France. At the age of 20, he met Dom Jean Claire, the choirmaster of the Abbey of Solesmes in the Sarthe region of France. The association "Le Chœur Grégorien de Paris" was officially created in 1974. Its first members were young musicians trained in Solesmes. In 1981, the not-for-profit association "Friends of the Gregorian Choir of Paris" was founded and supports the Choir in its quest to guarantee its promotion, advancement and training. It also aims to promote and coordinate research on Gregorian chant which is an integral part of the cultural heritage of Europe and contribute to its global influence. From 1985 to 2020, Louis-Marie VIGNE taught "Conducting a Gregorian Choir" at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris (CNSMDP French acronym). https://www.conservatoiredeparis.fr/fr/discipline/choeur-gregorien In 1993, the Academy of Fine Arts awarded the Liliane-Bettencourt Choral Singing Prize to the Choir. https://www.fondationbs.org/fr/culture/chant-choral/prix-liliane-bettencourt-pour-le-chant-choral In 1995, the female branch, the "Chœur Grégorien de Paris - Voix de Femmes", was founded, thus increasing the influence of Gregorian chant by touring, and giving concerts abroad. In 2006, the School of the Gregorian Choir Paris was founded to train as many people as possible in the tradition of Western sacred chant. This vocation has therefore taken on an international dimension.

Louis-Marie VIGNE established himself as a key figure in the revival of Gregorian chant. Over the years, the activities of the Choir have diversified, but the founding vision remains the same: "Promoting the universality of this sacred chant, seeking its permanent forms, and safeguarding this invisible heritage."

Over the past 50 years, the choir and its school have travelled and welcomed over a hundred seminary and religious students from France and all over the world (Europe, China, Korea, Japan, America, Africa).

It offers a weekly Mass, and the entire Holy Week is sung in Gregorian repertoire.