Ensemble Vocal Aedes
Founded by Mathieu Romano in 2005, Aedes is the fruit of a collective adventure, its members motivated by the same passion for choral music to devote themselves to its service by their fidelity to the Ensemble.

The Ensemble’s explores music from the Baroque period via unaccompanied 20th and 21st century music right up to contemporary works. It is well known for the originality of its staged or semi-staged programmes, for its collaborations with artists from other backgrounds (dance, drama and the visual arts) and for the jaunts it takes into other musical genres such as French chanson and flamenco.

The Ensemble’s powerful stage presence has earned it invitations to perform in France’s most distinguished opera houses : it has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra Comique, the Paris Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Palais de Chaillot. Festival engagements include Aix-en-Provence, La Chaise-Dieu, Besançon, Radio France Montpellier, and the Rencontres Musicales de Vézelay. Abroad, it has been invited to perform at the Vienna Konzerthaus, in Amsterdam, Kracow and Grenada’s International Music and Dance Festival.

At the core of the Ensemble Aedes’ repertoire are 20th works and premieres of contemporary music. Its rich and varied recordings of sacred and secular a cappella music from this period have won praise from listeners and critics alike.

Its performances of vocal and instrumental masterpieces see the Ensemble working with other distinguished groups such as Les Siècles, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Latvian Radio Choir.

Faithfully committed to the generous spirit at the heart of this adventure, Mathieu Romano’s singers devote themselves to sharing choral music everywhere, with everybody. Every year the Ensemble organises a rich season of outreach projects.

From the 2022-2023 season onwards, the Ensemble Aedes will be working at Saint Riquier Abbey in the Hauts-de-France region setting up an new Pôle Régional d’Art Vocal in partnership with the Somme département.

Mathieu Romano
A versatile conductor continually searching for new experiences, as at home in the orchestra pit as on the concert platform, Mathieu Romano exploits his profound understanding of the voice – both solo and choral – and the orchestra to tackle every genre, from baroque and symphonic to contemporary music.

He studied for his Masters in orchestral conducting at the Paris Conservatoire with François-Xavier Roth, Susanna Mälkki and Zsolt Nagy. He subsequently worked as assistant conductor with David Zinman, Dennis Russell Davies, François-Xavier Roth, Paul Agnew and Marc Minkowski.

He has directed many ensembles in concert – Les Siècles, the RIAS Kammerchor, the Latvian Radio Choir, the National Youth Orchestra of France and the Radio France Choir – as well as conducting operas with the Frivolités Parisiennes and contemporary projects with the Ensemble Itinéraire.

In 2022 he was appointed Artistic Director of the new Pôle Régional d’Art Vocal of the Hauts-de-France region and musical director of the Lille Opera chorus.

The world’s most distinguished concert seasons have seen him direct his Aedes ensemble. Listeners and critics alike have heaped praise on his many and varied recordings of a cappella music.

Amongst his other projects as an advocate of accessibility and musical education, he directed one of the South-West DEMOS orchestras (orchestras devoted to access to music for all) from 2017 to 2020. He has launched training projects for amateur musicians, children and promising young musicians as part of the Aedes ensemble’s Pôle Régional d’Art Vocal at Saint-Riquier Abbey.

His musical achievements have earned him the title of Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres.