Music in Paris

Music in Paris, France, is rich and varied, with many different kinds of sounds and styles. You can hear opera and symphonic music, as well as musical theater, jazz, rock, rap, hip-hop, traditional Bal-musette, and gypsy jazz. The city also loves music from all over the world, especially from Africa and North Africa, like the Algerian-style music called Raï.

Paris has some very important places for music. The Paris Opera and the Orchestre de Paris are famous groups that perform beautiful music. The Paris Conservatory was the first school in Europe to teach music in a special way for the government. At La Villette, you can find the Cité de la Musique, which has a new concert hall, a music school, a museum with old musical instruments, and a big place called Le Zenith where many popular musicians play.

Paris is also well-known for its music halls and clubs, where people gather to enjoy live music. Many churches in the city have amazing old organs and often hold concerts too. Whether you like classical music, jazz, rock, or any other style, Paris has something special for everyone who loves music.

Paris Opera

The Paris Opera, also called the Opéra National de Paris, was started in 1669 and is the oldest and most famous opera group in France. It mainly puts on operas at its big modern theater, Opéra Bastille, which opened in 1989 and has space for 2,700 people. It also performs ballets and some older operas at the Palais Garnier, a smaller theater that opened in 1875 and holds about 1,970 people. Each year, the Paris Opera gives about 380 shows of opera, ballet, and concerts to around 800,000 visitors.

Paris Opera Ballet

The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, founded in 1669. Many famous romantic ballets, including Giselle and Le Corsaire, were first performed by this company. Since 1994, it has been called the Opéra National de Paris (Paris National Opera). The company mainly performs at the Palais Garnier.

Orchestre de Paris

The Orchestre de Paris began in 1967 after another orchestra in Paris stopped. A famous conductor named Charles Munch helped start it. Over the years, many great musicians have led the orchestra, including Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, and Semyon Bychkov.

The orchestra plays mainly at the Philharmonie de Paris in the Cité de la Musique in the Parc de la Villette. This special concert hall was designed by Jean Nouvel and opened in 2015. Today, the orchestra has 119 musicians and gives many concerts each year. Since 2010, Paavo Järvi has been the main musician leader, but he will be replaced by Daniel Harding in September 2016.

Classical music and dance

Paris is home to many important orchestras and places for classical music and dance. The Lamoureux Orchestra, started in 1881, has played famous pieces by Claude Debussy like Nocturnes and La mer. It performs at venues such as the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and sometimes at the Grand Rex movie theater.

Radio France hosts two symphony orchestras. The Orchestre National de France, founded in 1934, focuses on French music and plays at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, started in 1937, performs both new and classic music and has concerts broadcast across Europe. The Salle Pleyel is another key venue for classical music concerts.

Cité de la Musique

The Cité de la Musique, or City of Music, is a group of music buildings in the Parc de la Villette in Paris. It was started in the 1990s by President François Mitterrand to bring culture to a neighborhood far from the city center. The buildings were designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 1995. The Paris Conservatory of Music moved there in 1990. A big hall for rock concerts, Le Zenith, opened later. The most famous building, the Philharmonie de Paris, home of the Orchestre de Paris, was designed by Jean Nouvel and opened in 2015.

Music in the cathedral and churches

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris has one of the most famous organs in Paris. It was built in the 18th century by François-Henri Clicquot and later updated in the 19th century by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. This organ has many special pipes and parts that make it unique.

Another important organ can be found in the church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais, where the Couperin family served as organists for many years. Their contributions helped make this church a special place for organ music. Many churches in Paris offer free concerts on Sunday afternoons, including the American Cathedral in Paris.

The Opéra-Comique

The Opéra-Comique theater has a rich history, starting in 1753. It was the place where people first heard Bizet's Carmen and Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, as well as the first French shows of Puccini's operas. Even though the theater faced money problems and stopped having its own group in 1972, it still shows many kinds of opera and musical theater today. The building was closed for a while in 2015 for big repairs.

Musical theater

Musical theater became very popular in Paris in the mid-1800s, thanks to the funny and clever musical works of Jacques Offenbach. However, the genre almost disappeared in the 1900s because of high costs and competition from movies. In the 1980s and 1990s, Paris brought back musical theater with two big shows: Les Miserables, which opened in 1980, and Notre Dame de Paris, which opened in 1998. Both shows started in Paris and later became successful in London, New York, and other places around the world.

Today, the main place for musicals in Paris is the Théatre du Châtelet, where shows from New York often come to perform. In 2015, the musical An American in Paris had its first preview at the Chatelet before moving to New York. The theater also planned to present Passion by Stephen Sondheim in its 2016 season.

Music halls

Music halls were brought to Paris from London in 1862 and quickly became very popular. They featured dancers, singers, acrobats, magicians, and even trained animals. In the 1920s and 1930s, these halls focused more on music and introduced famous singers like Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, and Edith Piaf. Traditional clubs such as the Folies-Bergere, started in 1869, and the Moulin Rouge, started in 1889, are well-known. The Moulin Rouge was the first place to perform the French Cancan dance.

The Olympia, founded in 1893, was the first music hall to use a large stairway for its shows in 1911. Today, places like the Moulin Rouge, Folies-Bergere, and Casino de Paris still put on musical shows, but most of their visitors are tourists. The Olympia Music Hall is now used for concerts with famous singers and bands. New music halls, such as the Crazy Horse Saloon, have also opened, featuring music and dancing performances.

Bal musette

Bal musette is a fun style of French music and dancing that became popular in Paris in the 1870s and 1880s. People loved dancing the bourrée in local dance halls, often accompanied by a special bellows-blown bagpipe called a musette, and sometimes a vielle à roue (hurdy-gurdy). Musicians playing the accordion also joined in, especially in Auvergnat bars in the 19th arrondissement.

Over time, bal-musette grew into different styles like tango-musette, pas-musette, and valse-musette, perfect for dancing in small spaces. Though its popularity dropped after World War II with the rise of rock and roll, some jazz and dance clubs still play this music today. One special place, the Vieux Belleville in the 20th arrondissement, works hard to keep bal-musette music and dancing alive.

Rock and popular music

Paris has many concerts for French and international rock and popular music groups. The biggest concerts happen at the Stade de France, a large sports stadium just outside Paris. It can hold eighty-one thousand people. Famous artists like AC/DC, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, and Rihanna have performed there.

Inside the city, the AccorHotels Arena is the largest venue, with space for up to twenty thousand people. Many well-known artists such as Madonna, U2, Celine Dion, and Phil Collins have played there. Other big venues include Le Zenith at the Cité de la Musique, which opened in 1983 and can seat 6,293 people. It has hosted many French and international stars over the years.

Paris also has many music clubs in different neighborhoods. Some are in the area between Chatelet, Les Halles, and the Pompidou Center, while others are in the outer parts of the city. These clubs offer many types of music, from punk and metal to reggae and more.

Jazz clubs

Jazz came to Paris during World War I with a band led by James Reese Europe. It became very popular in the 1920s and grew again after World War II, especially in the cellars of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Today, Paris has many jazz clubs with performances at night. Some well-known clubs include the 'Caveau de la Huchette', 'Improviste' on a barge on the Seine known for Bebop music, and 'Bab-Ilo' near Montmartre for Brazilian and Caribbean jazz.

Other famous clubs are found on Rue des Lombards near Les Halles, like 'Duc des Lombards', 'Sunset-Sunside', and 'Le Baiser Sale'. Some clubs specialize in Manouche or gypsy jazz, made famous by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Paris also holds jazz festivals such as Jazz sur Seine in October and Jazz Musette des Puces in June.

Music schools

Paris has many important schools for learning music. The most famous is the Conservatoire de Paris, started in 1795. It was the first school of its kind in Europe and has taught many famous musicians like Hector Berlioz, Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, and Nadia Boulanger. Today, it is located near the Philharmonic Hall.

Other music schools in Paris include the Schola Cantorum de Paris, started in 1896, which focuses on older styles of music. There is also the École Normale de Musique de Paris, founded in 1919, and the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff, a private school started by people from Russia after their country’s big change in government.

Military music

Paris has many musical groups tied to its military and police. One of the most famous is the band of the Garde Republicaine, which sometimes performs with musicians on horseback. They play special music for big events, like the parade on the Champs-Élyseés for Bastille Day each July 14, and for important meetings at the Élysée Palace.

The gendarmerie, which is part of France’s military, also has its own band and orchestra. Additionally, the police in Paris have their own orchestra called the Musique des Gardiens de la Paix, part of the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité. There is also a musical group for the Paris fire brigade, which includes many different types of music groups.

Street and subway musicians

Street musicians have been part of Paris life since the Middle Ages, with singers and players even having their own professional group. In the 1600s, the Pont Neuf was a favorite spot for these performers. Today, you can hear all kinds of street music in Paris squares and busy areas.

Musicians who want to play in the Paris Metro tunnels need special permission. Because space is limited, they must audition and be chosen for specific locations.

Festivals

Paris holds many musical festivals each year. Two big ones are the Paris Jazz Festival and the rock festival Rock en Seine. On June 21, the Fete de la Musique happens, which is also called the Summer Solstice. This festival has free shows of classical music, rock, jazz, and world music in many places around Paris.