The Elysée Choir, founded in 1968 and dissolved in 2010, is a vocal ensemble from Vaud.

The composer René Falquet, vocal master at the Collège de l’Elysée as well as at the Gymnase de la Cité, established the Elysée Choir in 1968. Initially composed of about twenty former students and teachers from the Collège de l’Elysée, this ensemble initially aimed to perform “works generally overlooked by larger ensembles, or those not retained by the musical tradition of our country” (1972 brochure), chosen based on their vocal interest.

Over the years, the choir’s membership grew, thanks to the contribution of singers from the Lausanne gymnasiums, and its reputation attracted other choral art enthusiasts, establishing itself as one of the best oratorio choirs in French-speaking Switzerland. Under the direction of René Falquet, the Elysée Choir covered almost the entire major repertoire, ranging from Monteverdi’s Vespers, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Passions, and Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiems, Brahms and Fauré, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Honegger’s King David, A Christmas Cantata, and Joan of Arc at the Stake. It often excelled in rarely performed works such as Schumann’s Scenes from Faust, Lloyd Webber’s Requiem, Rutter’s Gloria, or Purcell’s King Arthur on stage.

In 2010, conductor René Falquet retired, and the choir decided to dissolve after a final concert on October 2nd in Le Sentier. It recorded one last album dedicated to the works of its conductor, including his Te Deum, composed in 1995 for the Orient choir, entirely revised and transformed for the choir in 2002, his Six Fables by La Fontaine, from the show dedicated to the famous fabulist in 2001 and directed by Gérard Demierre, in 2004, and a Missa Brevis written expressly for the recording of this final album by the Elysée Choir.