Laurence Equilbey

Laurence Equilbey (born 6 March 1962) is a French conductor, known for her work in the choral repertoire, and more recently as the founder and music director of the Insula Orchestra.Equilbey studied piano and flute in her early life. She undertook formal music education in Paris, Vienna, London and Scandinavia. Her teachers included Eric Ericson, Denise Ham, Colin Metters and Jorma Panula.

Equilbey founded the chamber choir Accentus in 1991, and continues as its music director. With Accentus, she has conducted commercial recordings for such labels as Naïve. In 1995, she founded the Jeune Chœur de Paris, which in 2002 was incorporated as a department of the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris. She co-directs the programme with Geoffroy Jourdain. Since the 2009–2010 season, Equilbey has been an associate artist, with Accentus, of the Ensemble orchestral de Paris.

Equilbey invented the “e-tuner”, an electronic means of tuning quarter tones and 1/3 tones. Outside of conventional classical music, she is a collaborator in the Private Domain project, which has included work with Émilie Simon, Murcof, Para One, and Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague.

In 2008, Equilbey was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 2012, she founded the Insula Orchestra. One of their goals is to perform the neglected works by historic women composers, such as Louise Farrenc. In July 2021, Erato released their recording of Farrenc’s Symphony nos. 1 and 3.

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