Catherine Bolzinger and Les Voix de Stras' singers from the four corners of the world.

Catherine Bolzinger is a child of Strasbourg. A voice that counts and brings people together. Her passion for 20th-century music stems from her encounter with Georges Aperghis and her apprenticeship with Nicole Corti in the choir of the Orchestre de Lyon. In her hometown, she created Les Voix de Stras', a choir of six women from all over the world, including Chile, Slovakia and Armenia. She is also director of the Choeur philharmonique, an ideal choir for integrating local diversity and visiting foreign amateurs.

When and how did this women's choir come into being? Was it an initial choice? 

In fact, it's a choice of circumstances, a choice made in a crisis. In 2008-2009, I couldn't find enough tenors to create the music that moved me.

What's the main difference with a mixed choir?

I realized that a choir of women's voices allowed me to explore more original musical paths, and to develop more committed projects on social issues such as cancer, for example, through Ponctuations musicales nomades in the city.

We work like a troupe, in the field, close-knit. Each of us brings our own culture and vocal color to the table, because the palate is formed by the words we pronounce in early childhood!

How do you build up a creative repertoire?

Simply by placing orders, but I also have training and experience in transcription, which enables me to make arrangements of classical songs and chants, and which adds to our repertoire.

This allows us to weave together new discoveries and arrangements, such as Fauré's Mélodies, and to decompartmentalize repertoires.

You have also been director of the Philharmonic Choir since 2003. 

What is an amateur choir in Strasbourg today?

There has always been a place in our region for this choir, which sings with all the region's orchestras.

Who are these 86 voices and where do they come from? In fact, I realized that many adults couldn't find a way to extend their musical practice, and that it was difficult for them to pass on their experiences to their children.

The choir is great because it allows us to integrate foreigners passing through our territories: foreign teachers or students, diplomats, seconded workers. You don't need to speak a language well to be able to sing it. It's a living space of great cultural diversity.
We have 3 to 4 productions a year. Our repertoire is more romantic, but we also have a taste for new works, with pieces by Thierry Escaich and Philippe Schoeller.

I've also initiated a whole range of musical projects around the rotating presidencies of the European Commission, enabling us to carry out wonderful projects like the one we have with the Percussions de Strasbourg around Mikis Theodorakis' "Canto general" with texts by Pablo Neruda. 

The pandemic has brought the music world to a standstill: what impact has it had on your current and future projects?

We had begun a tour with the musical show written by Arturo Gervasoni around Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but had to cancel the concerts scheduled in Paris at the Théâtre du Ranelagh. 

Like many others, we have created online formats and appointments such as the online Playlists on Youtube. 

I'd also like to work on what it imposes on us, using photos and portraits: what happens to the voice behind the mask?

Interview by Sandrine Maricot Despretz