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From the Renaissance to barbershop, from French chanson to body percussion, Mission Voix Occitanie opens its 2026–2027 training season: six workshops and masterclasses, alongside a series of free webinars run with the Missions Voix network.
I designed this season in the belief that a choir grows when you open it up to other repertoires, other gestures, other ways of listening. The guest tutors come from here as well as from the United Kingdom, Quebec and Sweden. They share the same high standards, whether they work with professionals or amateurs. Because an amateur is, quite literally, someone who loves, and they deserve the same quality of teaching.
Perrine Malgouyres, Director, Mission Voix Occitanie
Building a training season starts with a question put to people on the ground: what do choral conductors and singers need today to move their practice forward? This year, our answer comes down to one deliberate choice: a diversity of musical languages. Six tutors, six aesthetics, and one shared standard: everyone should leave with practical tools they can use at their very next rehearsal.
Among them you will find a baritone who spent fourteen years with The King's Singers, a choral conductor and composer from the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, a specialist in the Technique du Chanteur Moderne, and a barbershop world champion.
17 - 18 October 2026: masterclass with Christopher Bruerton
The season opens with two young ensembles from the region coming together under the guidance of Christopher Bruerton, a baritone with the King’s Singers for fourteen years, whose career with the British ensemble comes to an end this year: the Elysium Choir (Toulouse), which performs contemporary music, and the Ensemble L’Hydre (Montpellier), specialising in Renaissance music. Two days dedicated to working on ensemble sound, a cappella intonation, style, listening skills and stage presence.
The masterclass is open to observers. You can sit in on every session and watch how a singer of this calibre helps an ensemble improve. It ends with a concert at the church in Escalquens (Haute-Garonne), which also closes the Voix Croisées festival, a partner in the project.
27, 28 and 29 October 2026: choral conducting masterclass with Robert Ingari
Robert Ingari is a Full Professor at the Université de Sherbrooke, where he leads the Master's programme in choral conducting, and artistic director of the Chœur de chambre du Québec. He is also the author of La répétition efficace ("The Effective Rehearsal"), a practical guide for choral conductors. These three days put the guide to the test. Afternoons are given over to seminar work on repertoire, conducting technique and rehearsal strategies. In the evenings, participants put it all into practice with the singers of Nota Bene, the workshop's demonstration choir. The programme features pieces chosen for the variety of their musical languages, from Lauridsen to Miškinis, and includes a Kyrie by Robert Ingari himself.
7–8 November 2026: the Technique du Chanteur Moderne with Caroline Calvo
Caroline Calvo trained with Allan Wright, the creator of the method, and teaches vocal technique and choral singing at the Maîtrise Populaire de l'Opéra-Comique. The TCM approach draws on the physiology and acoustics of the voice. It helps singers understand their instrument, avoid vocal fatigue and move between styles such as classical, pop and musical theatre. No experience is required: the workshop is open to anyone who uses their voice, whether on stage, in the classroom or elsewhere.
16–17 January 2027: conducting French-language song in choral arrangements with Brice Baillon
Gainsbourg, Barbara, Souchon, Stromae, Clara Luciani, Ben Mazué… Singing French chanson in parts raises questions the classical repertoire rarely asks: groove, flow, physical commitment. How do you convey an intention without spelling everything out? How do you let each singer express something of their own without losing the coherence of the group? Brice Baillon answers through gesture, with pared-back conducting tools and a non-hierarchical relationship with the choir.
20–21 March 2027: mixed-voice barbershop with Victor Nilsson
Swedish singer Victor Nilsson, 2025 barbershop world champion with the quartet Lemon Squeezy, brings twenty years of a cappella experience. The aim is to understand what makes barbershop ring, from its jazzy chords and its tuning built on resonance to the balance between lead, alto, tenor and bass, and then to sing it properly, using arrangements written for the style. All you need to sign up is some choral singing experience.
24–25 April 2027: body percussion with Perrine Camus
Clap, snap, stomp: the season closes with the body as an instrument. The work unfolds in three stages, technical, then choreographic, then vocal. Participants build their own repertoire of body sounds, develop polyrhythm and precision, and put rhythmic movement at the service of singing, all the way through to improvised circle songs.
October to March: a webinar series with the Missions Voix network
Alongside the workshops, six free online sessions tackle the very practical questions of choir life. Topics include using digital tools to support singers between rehearsals (the session led by Mission Voix Occitanie, with Marie-Aline Bayon), hiring artists, tax matters for non-profit associations, inclusion, volunteering, and the legal use of sheet music. The sessions are run by organisations across the network: Cepravoix, Cadence, Mesh, INECC, the Cité de la voix and CDAC.
A workshop is also a place to meet other conductors, other singers and other ways of doing things. Amateurs and professionals work side by side, to the same standard, and that is often where the next projects begin.
At a glance
17–18 October 2026: Christopher Bruerton masterclass, Escalquens
27–29 October 2026: Robert Ingari conducting masterclass, Toulouse
7–8 November 2026: Technique du Chanteur Moderne, Caroline Calvo, Toulouse
16–17 January 2027: French-language song in choral arrangements, Brice Baillon, Toulouse
20–21 March 2027: Mixed-voice barbershop, Victor Nilsson, Toulouse
24–25 April 2027: Body percussion, Perrine Camus, Toulouse
Webinars: 5 October, 9 November, 10 December 2026; 28 January, 16 February, 15 March 2027
Find out more: https://les-elements-missionvoix.fr/
Click here to join: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/les-elements
