Music of Monaco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monaco is a city and independent state located in the south of France, along the Mediterranean coast. The country has long been under the control of the Grimaldi family, who have encouraged musical development. Prince Rainier III introduced the Prince Rainier III Prize for Musical Composition to reward Monegasque musicians.

The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1863 and gained a permanent home at Garnier Palace in 1879. The Orchestra is quite prominent in the classical world, and has been conducted by Igor Markevitch, Lovro von Matacic, Paul Paray, Lawrence Foster, Gianluigi Gelmetti and Louis Fremaux.

The Little Singers of Monaco are a children's choir founded in 1973, when the Palatine Chapel's Chapel Master, Philippe Debat, was ordered by the government to send a choir of only children around the world. This practice carries on a tradition from the reign of Prince Antoine I, during whose rule a choir of children sang the liturgies in the Palatine Chapel.