The historic jewels of southern France’s heritage roar to life under the power of classical music.

Cycle de Musiques Sacrées Festival in Avignon

Avignon continues to foster its cultural vitality whilst showcasing its historical heritage. Throughout July, the Cycles de Musiques Sacrées festival, organised by the association ‘Musique sacrée et Orgue en Avignon’, invites you to discover the historical heritage of the City of the Popes and the surrounding towns through concerts featuring organs, chamber music, choirs, organists and musicians from our region and across Europe. The concerts will take place in churches and collegiate churches, ensuring that the experience is both historical and musical.

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The Cimiez Monastery in Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes
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Dmytro Surkov/adobesotck.com

Festival Nice Classic Live

In July and August, the cloister of Cimiez monastery in Nice hosts the Nice-Classic-Live Festival: a festival with a really eclectic outlook which delights its audience and where Vivaldi, Beethoven, Chopin, Philip Glass and Ligeti rub shoulders with jazz. Associated with the Académie Internationale d’Eté in Nice, the festival welcomes the elite of French musicians who have come to teach young artists from all over the world and perform in the superb setting of the monastery’s cloister overlooking the Baie des Anges: genuine live entertainment.

Musicales des Villages et Domaines Provençaux at Festival Gloriana

In July and August, get ready to set off on a historic trip through the Provencal estates and villages with the Festival Gloriana. You’re sure to be moved by the striking combination of Provencal architecture and famed artists. The artists set out to conquer chapels, parks and churches in the villages for almost a month in small musical ensembles and turn them into unique musical experience venues, an enchanted journey in the Var.

The citadel of Sisteron in fine weather — ©
The citadel of Sisteron, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
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Patrice P

Les Nuits de la Citadelle in Sisteron

Dance, music and theatre are all there in the citadel in Sisteron, in July and e mecca. The festival proposes shows spread over the three key venues in the mecca of the Provencal heritage: Cloître Saint-Dominique, the Théâtre de Verdure and Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Pommiers. Sisteron’s citadel has always been closely linked to art and live entertainment. In 1928, Marcel Provence organized the third Alpine season there and presented the Cid. And ever since, the site has been a reference for the poets, actors, musicians and dancers who wish to perform there.

Festival de Musiques Anciennes in Simiane la Rotonde

Every year in August, the Festival de Simiane-la-Rotonde (Early Music) takes place in its castle. The concerts are given in the Rotonde with its Romanesque architecture. It was once the fortress’s dungeon. With its remarkable acoustics, the sublime room under a dome is the ideal place for the musicians’ talent to ring out.

Simiane-la-Rotonde and a field of lavender in bloom in the foreground — ©
Simiane-la-Rotonde, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
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Jefwod/adobestock.com

The Abbaye de la Celle Festival

In spring, La Celle Abbey – an iconic monument of Provençal Romanesque art, situated at the heart of the Provence Verte Verdon – hosts the ‘Présence Compositrices’ festival, which challenges gender norms and stereotypes by highlighting the role of women in the field of musical composition. Over the course of several weeks, the festival celebrates the work and talent of women composers, who have all too often been under-represented and marginalised in the history of music. Through concerts, guided tours, workshops, talks and an online platform called ‘Ask Clara’, female composers past and present give free rein to their creativity, sharing it with as wide an audience as possible.

Les Musicales Guil Durance in Mont-Dauphin and Guillestre

Les Musicales Guil Durance has been enthralling music lovers for over 30 years with an unclassifiable series of seven concerts where Jazz rubs shoulders with Renaissance Polyphony and World Music. Running from early July to early August, the festival is held in the stunning settings of Eglise Notre-Dame-d’Aquilon in Guillestre and the history-packed Salle Basse de l’Arsenal inside the Mont-Dauphin fortifications built by Vauban in the 17th century, now part of UNESCO World Heritage. An ode to warmth and togetherness, Les Musicales Guil Durance, steered by the association “Arts et Musiques en Montagne”, winds up with a delicious buffet to savour under the starry skies of the Hautes-Alpes.

Festival de Glanum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Taking place every summer at the foot of the Alpilles massif, the three-day Festival de Glanum promises a delightful encounter between classical music, ancient history and gorgeous Provençal scenery. Mesmerizing pieces interpreted by flagship artists spanning several generations echo around the archaeological site of Glanum – the remains of an ancient Gallo-Roman city dating back thousands of years. Past and present unite, and the angelic sounds of voices and instruments take centre stage for three magical evening concerts, renewing the Roman Forum’s ties with its historic vocation as a place of meeting and sharing.

Bonus: a season of concerts in Abbaye Saint Victor

This is more than a festival, it’s a real musical season. All year round, the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille hosts various performances of classical music, and is now open to world music and jazz: major orchestra, and choir concerts.
For the last 50 years, The Les Amis de Saint-Victor association has been showcasing the remarkable heritage of the abbey for visitors and the Marseillais.