CONCERT [Early Music Cycle]
Into The Winds Ensemble
Project: Le parfait danser (The Perfect Dancer) – Dance music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
The French ensemble Into the Winds, currently the world's leading ensemble in the field of alta cappella, will present the program Le parfait danser - a vivid journey through the beginnings of dance music from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, performed on historical instruments and inspired by the first written dance manuals. Their performance combines solemnity and vitality with spiritual symbolism, confirming the timelessness of dance as a universal language.
The striking and noble sonorities of medieval and Renaissance instruments allow the ensemble Into the Winds to take listeners back in time. Founded in 2017 by Adrien Reboisson and Anabelle Guibeaud, the group currently consists of five young multi-instrumentalists whose mission is to introduce sacred and secular music from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance to audiences through innovative programming and concerts. Winners of the Van Wassenaer competition in Utrecht, they have performed at numerous prestigious festivals across France and Europe. Their rare instruments, such as shawms, sackbuts, trumpets, and historical percussion, resound in concert halls, as well as in the winding alleys of medieval villages and upon castle ramparts. Balancing technical mastery with the energy of a modern big band, the musicians share the pure joy of music-making with their audience. So far, they have released two acclaimed albums: "Le Parfaict Danser" (2023), dedicated to the earliest notated dances, and "Le Grand Embrasement" (2025), a musical journey into the turbulent era of King Charles VI, which was awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or.
The ensemble is passionately dedicated to rediscovering forgotten instruments, striving to blend historically informed performance with musicological research and creative programming. From the very beginning, they have collaborated with specialized historical instrument makers, gaining access to a wide palette of sounds and timbres. Thanks to ongoing research and the discovery of new sources, Into the Winds has built a rich repertoire that transports listeners through various emotional states - from intimacy and peace to extravagance and courtly festivities. Their goal is to share the rich and diverse musical aesthetics of the era with modern audiences, ranging from the gothic trumpets in the first cathedrals and troubadour songs of courtly love, to virtuoso improvisations on recorders and tambourines within princely estates.