Soleil d’Orient

Soleil d’Orient is a large, mixed polyphonic choir from the area around Lorient in Brittany that sings  of the sea and sailors, sometimes accompanied by one or two accordions.

On occasion, the choir has also performed alongside the group, La Bordée from Trégunc.

They write: “As proposed by our choirmaster, François Ménard,” (who joined them in 2023 and was previously with les Gabiers d’Artimon and les Vents de la Mer) “our board of directors and all the choristers have approved the creation of a new musical genre, the first Comédie Océanique entitled;

‘The epic of the Soleil d’Orient,’ with text, music and arrangements by François M.

It aims to tell stories of the sea and sailors through a kind of Sea Opera concerning the adventures of the mythical ship of the Compagnie des Indes that sailed in the 17th century and gave the name of our Choir and our city!

Thanks to a wide and varied repertoire, rich in salty songs, Soleil d’Orient is able to satisfy all categories of audience, whether it is indoor concerts or outdoor entertainment, whether in the context of regional or local festivities or for the benefit of associations or social or humanitarian works.”

Further music written by François M. may be found at:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2mCx5mg2q8cnElZW-EUOzA

Note: Le Soleil d’Orient, or “Eastern Sun” in English is also the name of the first large ship made at the Lorient shipyard from where a series of vessels for trade in India and China were constructed during the seventeenth century.

It was shipwrecked in November 1681 off Madagascar, either being attacked by Dutch or coastal pirates or sunk by a tropical storm. The site of the wreck still regularly fuels the curiosity of divers and fortune-hunters.