The founder and Artistic Director of Le Poème Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre and his ensemble specialise in the vocal and instrumental repertoire of the 17th and early 18th centuries. With his loyal band of artists, Dumestre is also a central figure of the revival of Baroque stage-art, and brings together a variety of artistic disciplines in his productions.
Vincent Dumestre was born in 1968. After studying art history at the École du Louvre and classical guitar at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, Dumestre devoted himself to the lute and theorbo under Hopkinson Smith, Eugène Ferré and Rolf Lislevand, before performing in concerts with the Ricercar Consort, La Simphonie du Marais, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy and Le Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, during which time he made some thirty recordings.
In 1998 he founded Le Poème Harmonique, a musical formation specialising in the Baroque repertoire, of which he is Artistic Director. The ensemble made an immediate impression, and Vincent Dumestre was named “Young Musician of the Year” by Diapason magazine in 1999.
His artistic career has broadly followed the same path as his ensemble, and he occupies a unique place on the international Baroque scene. An enthusiastic pioneer of early opera revival, he has directed such works as Caligula, Egisto and Cadmus et Herimone, sacred music including Lamentations by Cavalieri and Lalande’s Grands Motets as well as chamber music by Briceño, Belli and Tessier among others. He is also one of those rare musicians to direct an ensemble as part of major stage productions, providing a fresh insight into the relationship between music and theatre. This artistic approach has earned broad critical and public acclaim.
Alongside his work as an orchestra conductor, he continues to perform as an instrumentalist with the singers and musicians of his chamber music ensemble. In recent years, Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique have enjoyed a spectacular rise to prominence and are frequently invited to perform at the world’s most prestigious venues.
Supported by the Région Normandie in his work with Le Poème Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre is also the Artistic Director of the Baroque Seasons, a series of concerts in Rouen performed at the historic Chapelle Corneille, and Artistic Director of the Festival du Haut-Jura.
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