Founded by Mathieu Romano in 2005, Aedes is the fruit of a collective adventure, its members motivated by the same passion for choral music to devote themselves to its service by their fidelity to the ensemble. 

The ensemble’s explores music from the Baroque period via unaccompanied 20th and 21st century music right up to contemporary works. It is well known for the originality of its staged or semi-staged programmes, for its collaborations with artists from other backgrounds (dance, drama and the visual arts) and for the jaunts it takes into other musical genres such as French chanson and flamenco. For the 2024-2025 season, Aedes invites martial artist and Nō actor Master Masato Matsuura to join them in creating a new programme which brings together two different thousand year-old traditions through singing, drama, arms and dance.

The ensemble’s powerful stage presence has earned it invitations to perform in France’s most distinguished opera houses : it has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra Comique, the Paris Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Palais de Chaillot. Festival engagements include Aix-en-Provence, La Chaise-Dieu, Besançon, Radio France Montpellier, and the Rencontres Musicales de Vézelay. Abroad, it has been invited to perform at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, in Amsterdam, Kracow and Grenada’s International Music and Dance Festival.

At the core of the Aedes’ repertoire are 20th works and premieres of contemporary music. Its rich and varied recordings of sacred and secular a cappella music from this period have won praise from listeners and critics alike.

Its performances of vocal and instrumental masterpieces see the ensemble working with other distinguished groups such as Les Siècles, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Latvian Radio Choir.

Faithfully committed to the generous spirit at the heart of this adventure, Mathieu Romano’s singers devote themselves to sharing choral music everywhere, with everybody.

Based in the Somme département, Aedes is recognized as a “pôle culturel ressource”, setting up ambitious training projects and promoting choral singing throughout the Hauts-de-France region.

Its program of cultural activities includes concerts in health and care establishments, as well as training courses in singing and choral conducting for young professionals and amateurs alike. It supports the development of vocal practice in schools and contributes to the training of an academic choir for teachers, in partnership with the Académie d’Amiens.

The 2025-2026 season will mark the 20th anniversary of Aedes. It will feature a host of projects emblematic of the ensemble’s expertise, including the release of Francis Poulenc’s complete a cappella works in autumn 2025.