Évian's historic festival, which each summer brings together the leading performers on the international classical music scene

Created in 1976 on Antoine Riboud's initiative, the Rencontres Musicales d’Évian quickly became an unmissable summer event. Mstislav Rostropovich, director of the festival for almost 15 years, attracted the world's greatest soloists and orchestras to Évian, bestowing it with exception global prominence. Inaugurated in 1993 to host the festival, La Grange au Lac bears witness to this prestigious past. 

The Rencontres came to a close in the year 2000 with the departure of Mstislav Rostropovich, and were replaced by the Escales Musicales for more than ten years. The festival was eventually reborn in 2014 at the initiative of Laurent Sacchi, President of the Évian Resort, along with the Modigliani Quartet and Philippe Bernhard, in charge of artistic direction, who collectively, progressively restored its original spirit. Today, the creation of La Source Vive and the emergence of Les Mélèzes sees the start of a new chapter in the history of the festival, which has been under the artistic direction of Renaud Capuçon since 2023.