“Diversifying Baroque Is Vital!”

For the past ten years, French ensemble Le Concert de la Loge has been striving to blend musical rigour and openness to other genres. Its founder, violinist Julien Chauvin, looks back on this decade-long artistic adventure.

Ten years ago, violinist Julien Chauvin took the leap and created his own ensemble: Le Concert de la Loge, following in the footsteps of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, considered in the late 18th century one of the best orchestras in Europe. Today, the musicians perform on period instruments a repertoire ranging from Classical and Baroque… to hip-hop! Having just received an Opus Klassik award in the category ‘Innovative Concert of the Year’, Julien Chauvin looks back on a decade of exploration and discovery.

Let’s begin with the name of your ensemble, “Le Concert de la Loge”—in reality, “Le Concert de la Loge Olympique.” What happened to the last word?

Julien Chauvin: When I founded the orchestra in 2015, I wanted to bring back to life an orchestral formation that existed in Paris in 1780: the Concert de la Loge Olympique, which was built on the foundation of a Masonic lodge. As for the word “Olympique,” it refers to the name of the lodge itself: L’Olympique de la parfaite estime (“The Olympian Lodge of Perfect Esteem”), meaning a place where the musicians held each other in the highest regard. This was an orchestra that commissioned works from composers and premiered pieces by Salieri, Haydn… All of that musical land was of great interest to me. But then the Olympic Committee caught wind of us—they had actually trademarked the adjective a few years back with the Olympic Games. After a small battle lasting a year, we were prohibited from using the word. It’s still there—you can see it—but crossed out. `

And how did you come across the Concert de la Loge Olympique?

J. C.: It wasn’t very well known, because anything to do with Freemasonry had been brushed under the carpet. Musicologists found only very rare traces of this orchestra, which was built on a Masonic lodge relationship. Its trail was rediscovered about 25 years ago, and when I decided to revive the name, we dug deeper with historians to better understand the story of the ensemble.