Ensemble for Late Medieval and Contemporary Music

The mezzo-soprano Anne Marieke Evers and the blockflute player Anita Orme Della Marta met at the beginning of their musical studies at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam in September 1997. They formed a duo shortly after, specializing in both contemporary music as well as medieval and renaissance music. Later in their careers, their paths led them to pursue further studies in medieval music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, where they met the other ensemble members of Grand Désir. It was here that a common interest in the late-medieval music brought the group together in December 2004. Aside a few fixed members, Grand Désir likes to work with different musicians for each individual programme, thus creating the flexibility to obtain the perfect instrumentation for each project. Grand Désir performed their premiere in the ?Fringe? programme of the Utrecht Early Music Festival 2005. The ensemble has given numerous performances since in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia.

Grand Désir was deeply involved in the programme with historical awareness and fresh interpretation. This is a young ensemble with lots of professional skill and instrumental mastery. Grand Désir can look forward to a promising future! - Herman Baeten, director of Musica/ Festival of Flanders

Grand Désir