Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford, and the Ensemble Jupiter invite you to explore the repertoire of Julie Andrews, the unforgettable embodiment of Mary Poppins and an emblematic figure of dreams, gentleness, and poetry, for one evening. Set to the most beautiful melodies of Leonard Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sandy Wilson, Noël Coward, Robert & Richard Sherman, Frederick Loewe, Carol Burnett & Julie Andrews.

Chasing rainbows

National Theatre of the Opera Comique

Oratorio in three acts on a libretto by Thomas Morell, composed in 1749 and premiered on March 16, 1750, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London.

Theodora

Opéra Comédie

Refusing to sacrifice to Venus, the young Christian Theodora will be condemned by the Romans to prostitution and will die a martyr. Far from the gallant heroism of Julius Caesar given last season, Handel finds, for this sumptuous oratorio of maturity, elegiac accents of a moving depth, magnified by Thomas Dunford and his Jupiter ensemble. Two exceptional singers and tragedians to embody this mystical drama: Lea Desandre and Avery Amereau .

EPSG:4326

Chapelle royale de Versailles

Dijon Opera

Opéra National du Capitole

Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie

The Auditorium Bordeaux

BOZAR

National Music Auditorium

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

The French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre was honored with the Opus Klassik Award for Singer of the Year in 2022. At the age of 21, she was accepted into William Christie's baroque academy, Le Jardin des Voix . Since then, she has enjoyed a meteoric career, performing at all major opera houses and on international concert stages. Together with the brilliant French lutenist Thomas Dunford and the Ensemble Jupiter (Paris), which he founded in 2018, they form a globally acclaimed dream team on the classical music scene.

Songs of Passion

Les Riches Heures de Valère

Stadstheater Arnhem

The Rīga Congress Hall

Zentrum Paul Klee

Wigmore Hall

Auditorium of Normandy

Centre Culturel Spa-Jalhay-Stoumont

Mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and his energetic ensemble Jupiter were met with enthusiasm for their rendition of works by John Dowland and Henry Purcell at last year’s Musikfest concert in Lilienthal. With »Eternal Heaven«, this early music dream team remains true to the English repertoire for their Glocke debut. With a cross-section from George Frideric Handel’s English oratorios and semi-operas, they bring secular and sacred, serenity and turbulence, opulence and elegance into perfect harmony, allowing the deep emotions, intense drama and majestic power of Handel’s timeless music to be experienced first hand. The breathtaking atmosphere created by the celestial sound of the Ensemble Jupiter in combination with Lea Desandre’s passionate temperament and the luxurious timbre of her rich, versatile mezzo-soprano are a guarantee for heavenly harmony.

Eternal Heaven

Die Glocke

French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre studied with Sara Mingardo and perfected her craft at William Christie’s »Jardin des voix« academy. She was named »Vocal Discovery of the Year« at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2017 and has been a favourite of renowned opera houses and festivals the world over ever since. The delicate art of the classical song is a passion she shares with her partner, lutenist Thomas Dunford. Their programme »Idylle« features love songs spanning three centuries, from baroque masters such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Offenbach and Debussy to two icons of chanson, Barbara and Françoise Hardy. While Lea Desandre captures longing, happiness, melancholy and everything else love encompasses, Thomas Dunford accompanies these songs on his lute with both confidence and subtlety. A unique mix that crosses the ages and embraces changes in styles and temperaments in pursuit of the »Idyllic« – très beau!

Idylle

Gymnasialkirche der Jesuiten

Buy tickets for the 44th Evenings on Grič: Thomas Dunford & Friends, 09.07.2025. at Galerija Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb

44. Evenings on Grič: Thomas Dunford & Friends

Klovićevi Dvori Gallery

Lea Desandre's luminous and graceful voice is a joy for opera, firstly baroque when she was taken on by William Christie, who discovered her in his Jardin des Voix in 2015, then Mozartian, notably at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence festivals. Thomas Dunford's lute is as moving with his inventive continuos as it is on stage alone. Their passion for baroque music in no way hinders their shared idyll for the repertoire of French song. From there was born this intimate and eclectic program, which is also an album, crossing court airs, revisited romantic melody or opera and French variety. Over the centuries and at the whim of love.

Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford

The Barn at the Lake

La mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, formée auprès de William Christie et régulièrement nommée aux Victoires de la musique classique, dont elle a été lauréate en 2017, prête sa voix cristalline à trois siècles de chansons d’amour françaises entrecoupées de solos de luth par Thomas Dunford, qui font le lien entre les époques et les styles. Idylle réunit les œuvres de compositeurs inspirés, de Marc-Antoine Carpentier à Barbara en passant par Debussy et Offenbach, plongeant les auditeurs dans la tradition de la chanson française où l’amour est présenté dans tous ses états et sur tous les tons : triste, joyeux, langoureux ou facétieux…

Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano) & Thomas Dunford (luth)

National Estate of Chambord

The French love song marked the 20th century. This recital presents us with three centuries of love songs in French, from the opulent court of Louis XIV to 20th-century popular music. Released in 2023, the album Idylle brings together a wide variety of songs. Expressions of intimate Baroque blend with nineteenth-century entertainment, culminating in the music of Barbara and Françoise Hardy. Melodies that defined various eras are separated by surprising lute solos, from the instrument's tradition to modernist transcriptions. A vision of love across several centuries, across genres, styles, and canons.

Lea Desandre & Thomas Dunford

After their success with "Songs of Passion" at the Postlude last September, Lea and Thomas find themselves alone on stage for our greatest pleasure and for a tribute to French song and love songs through the centuries, entitled "Idylle". As they explain: "The emotions of love are explored in different forms - languor, desire, fascination, happiness". The configuration of the Saint-Denis church in Méry-sur-Oise favors proximity with the audience, love, the central subject of this evening, is thus invited through titles from the French repertoire carefully chosen by the two artists from Marc-Antoine Charpentier to Reynaldo Hahn via Françoise Hardy and Barbara. Of love and beauty, an unforgettable evening.

The In – Idyll

Église Saint-Denis de Méry-sur-Oise

“Lyric Artist of the Year” at the 2022 Opus Klassik and winner of the 2024 Critics’ Prize, Franco-Italian Lea Desandre is one of the most inspiring talents of her generation.

Lea Desandre, Patio of the Oblates

Town Hall of Aix-en-Provence

The Jupiter Ensemble, created by lutenist Thomas Dunford, offers an anthology of Handel oratorio arias performed by Lea Desandre.  The program features a sampling of arias from Handel's English-language oratorios, revealing inventive music, sometimes expressive and sometimes highly virtuosic. The composer, devoting himself to this new genre, with his rich experience in the field of Italian opera, transposes all the dramatic nuances to the themes of his oratorios, whether biblical (Saul, Solomon), historical (Occasional Oratorio, which celebrates the victory of the Duke of Cumberland), or mythological (Hercules and Semele).

Lea Desandre Ensemble Jupiter

Assoc des Amis du Patrimoine Culturel de Froville

The 14th edition opens with a wonderful and audacious proposal from Thomas Dunford. A musical journey beyond time where baroque mixes with sixties pop? More than that: a unique way, after having integrated the art of baroque playing according to the "letter", to breathe the "spirit" into it. From Vivaldi to the Beatles, The Other Side takes us on a journey that is both sensual and dizzying. Renowned lutenist, Thomas Dunford has collaborated with prestigious ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants . In 2018, he created Jupiter , an ensemble that sets European and American scenes alight, and whose various albums have left their mark. For The Other Side , he surrounds himself with his friends and fantastic musicians Victor Marichal, Keyvan Chemirani and Stéphane Huchard: a true ballet where Poseidon and Uranus, gods of the seas and the sky, join Jupiter; music, astronomy, mythology intertwine; and beauty of timbres, life of rhythms compose an elsewhere of paradoxical purity.

Thomas Dunford & Friends “The other side”

Great Hall Alhambra

Thomas Dunford and his Jupiter Ensemble for a celebration of English repertoire from the Baroque era to the present day.

Jupiter Ensemble

For the inaugural performance in the Frick’s stunning Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium, the acclaimed Jupiter Ensemble and mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre bring their unparalleled energy and vitality to the music of George Frideric Handel. Led by lutenist Thomas Dunford, the Jupiter Ensemble has garnered critical acclaim for its interpretations of music by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, and Monteverdi. To mark this special event, superstar countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will join Dunford for the world premiere of a new work by American composer Nico Muhly, inspired by Giovanni Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert, an iconic painting from the Frick’s permanent collection.

Jupiter Ensemble, Lea Desandre, Anthony Roth Costanzo | Spring Music Festival

Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium

The complicity between the mezzo-soprano, the lutenist and the instrumentalists of the Jupiter ensemble is beyond doubt.

Jupiter Ensemble, Lea Desandre

Grand Théâtre de Provence

We are very happy that Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford have agreed at short notice to perform their program "Idylle" in Langenbruck!

Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford in Langenbruck

Reformierte Kirche Langenbruck

Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford perform a program Idylle , a recital to be discovered on March 15, 2025 at Collège Champittet, Pully.

Lea Desandre - Thomas Dunford | Idyll

Collège Champittet

Jean-Baptiste Lully once mocked the sound of the lute as a »mosquito hum«. Fortunately, not all composers saw it like this and appreciated its bright and silvery sound very much. When Thomas Dunford strums the lute, it becomes a heavenly partner for Lea Desandre’s agile mezzo soprano. And does so through all eras: her programme »Idylle« (Paradise) bridges the baroque and chanson.

Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford / Song Recital

Elbphilharmonie

The idyll has two definitions: a "naive and tender love affair" and a "poem with a pastoral or amorous subject." In other words, the experience of passion, as much as the story of this passion. But couldn't we merge these two definitions? Such is the dream of the duo formed by musicians Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford, tender accomplices who met, it's true, in one of the most "beautiful and verdant" regions: the Vendée, in the West of France. The pastoral subject will have preceded them...

Rougemont Church

Founded in 2018 by lutenist Thomas Dunford, France’s Jupiter Ensemble has rapidly captured acclaim in the early music firmament. This international assembly of soloists brings the repertoire fully alive with energy and freedom in their playing. Drawing from the ensemble’s award-winning 2019 debut recording Vivaldi, Jupiter performs arias of jealousy, despair, and love, punctuated by concerti for lute, violin, and bassoon—music that illuminates the composer’s sundry sensations, from the sorrowful to the valiant. At the center, rising opera star Lea Desandre beguiles and ignites with a clarion voice and uncommonly beautiful technique.

Jupiter Ensemble Lea Desandre, mezzo-soprano

Lafayette College

It is safe to say that you have never heard Vivaldi quite like this — reincarnated through the exuberant virtuosity of the young members of the Jupiter Ensemble. Led by “the Eric Clapton of the lute” (BBC Music Magazine) alongside a rising mezzo-soprano who “brings life and beauty to everything she touches” (The New York Times), the group boldly reimagines what an early music ensemble can be as they guide us through the vibrant landscape of Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque innovations. From exhilarating vocal works that dazzle through their stunningly beautiful finesse to fiery concertos for strings that make much of the western canon sound tame in comparison, the program promises to shatter all preconceptions of Vivaldi’s music and reacquaint you with this timeless composer in a completely new light.

Jupiter Ensemble: All-Vivaldi

Richardson Auditorium

It is safe to say that you have never heard Vivaldi quite like this — reincarnated through the exuberant virtuosity of the young members of the Jupiter Ensemble. Led by “the Eric Clapton of the lute” (BBC Music Magazine) alongside a rising mezzo-soprano who “brings life and beauty to everything she touches” (The New York Times), the group boldly reimagines what an early music ensemble can be as they guide us through the vibrant landscape of Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque innovations. From exhilarating vocal works that dazzle through their stunningly beautiful finesse to fiery concertos for strings that make much of the western canon sound tame in comparison, the program promises to shatter all preconceptions of Vivaldi’s music and reacquaint you with this timeless composer in a completely new light.Woolworth Center, Room 301
Princeton, NJ 08544

The Jupiter Ensemble is the brainchild of the young lutenist and artistic director Thomas Dunford, who, in 2018, invited musicians and soloists he had met during his many years of touring the world to join him in a new early music ensemble. Together, the Jupiter Ensemble is keeping period practice alive – and every musician in the line-up is a soloist in their own regard.

In Durham, they present a portrait of Vivaldi, a staple composer of the Baroque period and one they spent time with in 2019, when they released a multi-award-winning dedicated Vivaldi recording on Alpha Classics. Lute concertos with Thomas Dunford will form the backbone of their US tour program, accompanied by a cello concerto led by Bruno Philippe, one of France’s most promising young soloists. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the next generation of early music specialists in action.

First Presbyterian Church

Jupiter Ensemble, comprising many of today’s new voices in early music, presents an extravaganza of music from Antonio Vivaldi, one of today’s most well-known composers in all of music history. Featuring his Lute Concertos in C Major and D Major, as well as his Cello Concerto in g minor, this concert explores both vocal and instrumental works from the Italian visionary. 

Logan Center

"[Artistic Director] Thomas Dunford has gathered together a team of some of the finest musicians of his generation… Brace yourselves for some exquisitely dizzy spells at the hand of Jupiter.” —Érik Orsenna, French politician and novelist

Passionate, timeless, virtuosic. The Jupiter Ensemble, with mezzo soprano Lea Desandre, presents a recital celebrating iconic baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. Highlighting his lesser known—but no less spectacular—works, this program features lush arrangements for voice and sparkling concertos for lute and cello in a tribute to Vivaldi’s enduring vitality.

Jupiter Ensemble with Lea Desandre

University of Colorado Boulder

All Vivaldi! Jupiter Ensemble, under the artistic direction of lutenist Thomas Dunford, performs a full program of works by the emblematic Baroque composer. Based in France and touring internationally, Jupiter Ensemble was born in 2018 from the friendship between Dunford and other brilliant musicians of his generation. Since its founding, Jupiter has distinguished itself as a true virtuoso ensemble. The great freedom, energy, and improvisation skills of each individual musician allow them to perform together with passion, strength, and emotion. Jupiter brings this energy to All Vivaldi!, adapted from their 2019 debut recording with the Alpha label. From the vibrant charisma of “utterly persuasive” (Gramophone) mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, to sparkling concertos for lute and cello performed by Thomas Dunford and Bruno Philippe, Jupiter Ensemble’s first ever Santa Fe performance will be a night to remember.

Jupiter Ensemble: All Vivaldi

New Mexico Museum

Since its founding in 2018 by French lutenist Thomas Dunford, the Jupiter Ensemble has quickly established itself as a major force in the European early music scene. In this program dedicated entirely to Vivaldi, the musicians present an exuberant portrait of a composer whose solo works, operas, and oratorios are among the most timeless music of the Baroque period. The result is an overwhelming impression of “chamber music delightedly shared among friends” (Gramophone).

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Founded by renowned lutenist Thomas Dunford, this early music ensemble has quickly garnered a reputation as one of Europe’s best, performing at London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and Paris’s Salle Gaveau. Joined by leading French mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, the group offers an incredible Vivaldi program.

Jupiter Ensemble

13 - 14 Dec, 2025

Chasing rainbows

Oct 13, 2025

Theodora

Jupiter Ensemble