Lila HAJOSI - Musical direction
Lila Hajosi is a French choir director, musicologist, and former mezzo-soprano, recognized for her unique work in the field of early music, particularly the medieval, Renaissance, and Byzantine repertoires. Trained at the conservatories of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, and later at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, she developed a dual artistic and scholarly approach at an early age, informed by her research in medieval musicology. After beginning her career as a singer, she shifted her focus to choral conducting in 2021.In 2015, she founded the Ensemble Irini in Marseille, serving as its artistic director, and with which she has forged an immediately recognizable sonic identity: a unique ensemble without sopranos, warm and deep timbres, powerful voices, and a constant dialogue between Eastern and Western musical traditions. Her programs reflect a highly personal approach that freely blends musicological research with creative expression. Beginning in the early 2020s, her career gained momentum on the European scene, with invitations to numerous festivals and growing critical acclaim. This momentum continued between 2024 and 2026, a period that marked a significant turning point in her career. She demonstrated full artistic maturity with critically acclaimed programs such as *Printemps Sacré* and *JANUA*, and developed cross-disciplinary projects such as *Prophitissai*, a commission from the MAFestival co-created with Tom de Cock, which brings together Lassus, Byzantine traditions, Xenakis, and the music of ancient Greece. That same year, she also caught the attention of Jordi Savall, who invited the Ensemble Irini on a concert tour, confirming her place among the emerging figures in early music. At the same time, she further broadened her scope by collaborating with contemporary ensembles and composers, notably with Zad Moultaka (2018, 2021) and then in 2025 with the ICTUS Ensemble, composer Riccardo Nova, and Carnatic singer Varijashree Venugopal for *The Book of Women*. Between 2025 and 2026, Lila Hajosi took on larger-scale projects, marking a significant expansion in the scope of her work. With INVICTAE, she collaborated with dancer Faustine Aziyadé to create a transdisciplinary work combining voice, dance, and spatial design, performed by an all-female ensemble. She also created POST TENEBRAS (spero lucem), an ambitious production featuring a double choir and brass section that explores the sonic splendor of 16th- and 17th-century Venice through the music of Giovanni Gabrieli, juxtaposed with that of his contemporary, Constantin d’Aghialos—a leading figure in the 17th-century revival of Byzantine music.
Critics, programmers, and audiences alike have turned out in force to celebrate the success of this major turning point. In addition to her artistic activities, she is committed to increasing the visibility of women in musical direction, having co-founded the #EllesDirigentt network with Camille Delaforge. She regularly speaks at institutions and professional conferences on topics such as equity, inclusion, cultural policy, and the development of artistic projects. Throughout her career, Lila Hajosi has established herself as a remarkable figure among a new generation of performers—deeply influenced by legendary figures such as Marcel Pérès and Jordi Savall—who view early music not as a static heritage but as a space for experimentation, freedom, and the transmission of humanist values.
The voices of the Irini Ensemble
A word from the director
"The artists of Ensemble Irini are carefully chosen above all for their expertise as chamber singers.
Unfortunately, the profession of ensemble artist is not taught in conservatories, where voices are often forced onto a sorting platform with only two outcomes: "chorister" OR "soloist". Yet, beyond the nonsense of this distinction, there is (at least) a third way.
Lila Hajosi
The artists of Ensemble Irini have a technical mastery of their instrument that allows them the luxury of forgetting it in order to concentrate their attention on that of others, that authorizes them to control their vibrato for the good of the polyphonic edifice, that gives them the stamina to hold an a cappella concert where no continuo or orchestra comes to support them and where, with 1 or 2 per voice, they do marathon work.ne.s.
In addition to their vocal technique, the unvarnished purity of their timbres, their great capacity for adaptation, their speed of assimilation, their availability to the director's requests, their ability to blend their voices with those of the ensemble in a common melting pot, the artists chosen for Ensemble Irini all possess a very particular color, a singular personality, curiosity, enthusiasm and a profound joy of making music together. This capacity for wonder, this sincerity in their relationship to their art, this humility in working together while retaining their own voice, and this exceptional strength of investment constitute the cornerstone of Ensemble Irini, the foundation on which it is built and without which it could not exist. "
