“A born Mozartian,” wrote Early Music Review after French conductor Laurence Equilbey led a festival performance of Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore (Solemn Vespers). That work is paired with the composer’s Krönungsmesse (Coronation Mass) for Equilbey’s Erato debut as conductor of the Insula Orchestra and Accentus Choir. The founder of both ensembles, in April 2017 she launches the Insula Orchestra’s long-term residency at the Paris region’s exciting new performance venue, La Seine musicale.

Equilbey and her aptly-named Insula Orchestra will be resident artists at La Seine musicale, and their opening weekend of concerts (22/23 April) offers a ‘surprise programme’ of music by Beethoven, Berlioz, Weber and Mozart. Mozart is central to the programming of the Insula Orchestra, which plays on period instruments and has been in existence since 2012. The ensemble has acquired a reputation in France and internationally, having visited cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, Basel and London, where The Times praised Equilbey for the “verve and delicacy” of her conducting and the Financial Times concluded that “Laurence Equilbey’s ensemble … showcases the best in period-instrument performance.”