La Chaise-Dieu, Festival De Musique will celebrate its 47th year at with a concert at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 21 and continue with events until Sunday, September 1, 2013.
(TRAVPR.COM) FRANCE - August 13th, 2013 - For over 40 years, thousands of musicians and music lovers have gathered at the end of summer in a little village surrounding the Gotheic Abbey church of St. Robert in Haute-Loire, Auvergne, France.
This year’s festival will include over 60 concerts and educational programs. The concerts will span over several different genres and artists from different countries such as Portugal, France and China. The educational programs comprise of lectures, workshops and music schools for children and adults.
This year’s event venues will be several different churches, auditoriums, gardens and hospitals. One of the more popular of the venues is Abbatiale de La Chaise-Dieu, the village of La Chaise-Dieu and the Abbey church of St. Robert constitute as the historical center of the festival.
The building dates back to the 11th century when canon Robert de Turlande founded the first Casa Dei monastery there. The Abbey changed when a former monk of La Chaise-Dieu became Pope in Avignon under the name of Clement VI. When visiting, people can admire the marble effigy of Pope Clement VI, the famous Dance of Death, a collection of tapestries, an early 18th century organ case, 144 wooden stalls and much more.
Visitors who are planning to visit the Abbey church between August 19-Septemeber 2 should be aware that visitations are limited because of the installation work and rehearsals. Visitors are advised to check with the Tourist Office before planning your visit.
Throughout its history, the festival has found a heritage inspired by spirituality, astonishing acoustics, the finest programs and a warm atmosphere. In 1966, Dr. Georges Mazoyer created the organization with his wife Suzanne and a few music-lovers, including Paul Perrin, Jean-Paul Dessaigne and Jaky Crossignani.
The festival’s first year consisted of a single piano recital by Hungarian pianist Georgy Cziffra and his son, a conductor of the Orchestre Colonne. For the first couple of years, the festival only focused on Cziffra, but has since grown to attract more than 25,000 spectators.
Since its beginning over a hundred volunteers of all ages have come together to help organize the event from counties all over the world. Volunteering has since, become the cornerstone of the event. The volunteers of the event create a warm atmosphere that is appreciated by the artists and public. Students, young retirees and young professionals who are passionate about music are all welcomed to become a volunteer.
Tickets are now available online or by telephone with prices ranging from €15 to €80 according to venue, program and category of seat.
Businesses and private individuals are welcomed to support the festival to encourage actions of solidarity in the form of education and social initiatives, to encourage worldwide recreation of works or the rediscovery of rare works and to enable the discovery of young talent.
For more information about attending the event, purchasing tickets and the event programme, please visit the official website at http://www.chaise-dieu.com/en/.
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This France event update is courtesy of Quality Villas (www.qualityvillas.com), specialists in luxury vacation rentals in France.
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