Since 1987 Le Concert Spirituel has become one of the leading exponents in the performance of baroque music – notably of French repertoire – on period instruments, throughout Europe and across the world. As an ensemble associated with the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, it works closely with the Centre’s musicologists, frequently appearing at both the Chapelle Royale and the Opéra Royal at the Château of Versailles.

Le Concert Spirituel has distinguished itself in the most prestigious festivals of France and other countries: the Festival d’Ambronay, Villa Medici in Rome, Holland Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music in London, Bremen Musikfest, Boston Early Music Festival, Festival Internacional de Música da Póvoa de Varzim, Festival d’Art Sacré in Paris, French Festivals in Sablé, Saint Michel en Thiérache and La Chaise-Dieu and also the Fes Festival of Sacred World Music in Morocco.

It is also invited to perform in leading concert halls in many different countries, among which can be numbered the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Bruxelles, Victoria Hall in Genève, Auditorium de Lyon, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet and Cité de la Musique all in Paris, the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Arsenal at Metz and Library of Congress in Washington.

Le Concert Spirituel is a notable contributor to the continuing revival of the French Baroque operatic tradition through its recordings on Glossa: Boismortier’s Daphnis et Chloé, Destouches’ Callirhoé, Marais’ Sémélé and Lully’s Proserpine are good examples. In parallel to these operas Le Concert Spirituel has been exploring the sacred repertoire of the French early Baroque, especially that of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel are also responsible for significant interpretations of music by Purcell and Handel (the ensemble played the music of Handel to an audience estimated at around 10,000 in the Parque del Retiro in Madrid and the recording of the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks was the recipient of the Edison Prize in 2004).

Since January 2006, Le Concert Spirituel and Hervé Niquet have been in residence at the Opéra de Montpellier.

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After training as a harpsichordist, organist, pianist, singer, composer, choirmaster and conductor, Hervé Niquet founded Le Concert Spirituel in 1987 and since its conception explores rare Baroque works, favouring the French musical tradition to which he devotes the greater part of his energy. Passion doesn’t necessarily imply exclusion, as Handel, Lorenzani, Purcell, Bach, Haydn, Gossec, Rigel and Mozart also appear frequently in the programmes of Le Concert Spirituel. Niquet applied the same level of curiosity and willingness to reread repertoire when he created La Nouvele Sinfonie in Montreal in 2002, a Canadian orchestra whose vocation is to promote French Baroque music in North America. The following year, Hervé Niquet was made conductor and artistic director of the symphonic orchestra Beethoven Académie in Antwerp. In 2006, he created a regional symphonic choir in Languedoc Roussillon. He has still found time to record the occasional solo keyboard CD, such as discs devoted to the music of François d’Agincour.

Hervé Niquet also remains committed to 19th century music and is regularly invited to conduct choruses and orchestras in the operatic and symphonic works of Lesueur, Gounod, Chabrier, Offenbach, Berlioz, Franck, Dukas, Mendelssohn and Schumann. Since 2008, Hervé Niquet has been associate conductor and delegate to artistic relations of the Palazzetto Bru-Zane in Venice (Centre de musique romantique française).