Conductor and musical director of Insula orchestra and accentus choir, Laurence Equilbey is known for her demanding yet open-minded approach to her art. Her exploration of the symphonic repertoire has seen her conduct the Orchestre national de Lyon, Hessischer Rundfunk, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, Camerata Salzburg, Concerto Köln, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Bruxelles amongst others.

In 2012 Laurence Equilbey founded Insula orchestra with the Departement des Hauts de Seine, an ensemble devoted to the Classical and Pre-Romantic repertoire who perform on period instruments. Insula is the resident orchestra at La Seine Musicale in Paris, where Laurence Equilbey is responsible for programming about 30 classical concerts per season. She is also an associate artist of the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, Artistic Director and Director of Education at the Department for Young Singers at the Conservatoire de Paris and a companion of the Philharmonie de Paris.  

Laurence Equilbey’s extensive recording work on the Naïve label, which includes Mozart’s Requiem with accentus and Insula (2014), has received wide critical acclaim. In September 2015 she released her first CD for Deutsche Grammophon, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with renowned countertenor Franco Fagioli. A recording of Mozart’s Coronation Mass with accentus and Insula was released on the Warner label in 2017, followed by Nacht und Träume, Schubert Lieder with orchestra. Gounod’s Comala, recorded in Copenhagen with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir, has just been released.  

Laurence Equilbey is an accomplished opera conductor and has worked with many major opera houses, including Theater an der Wien, Opéra Comique and Opéra de Paris. In June 2018 she will conduct a newly commissioned production of La Nonne Sanglante at Opéra Comique, to celebrate Gounod’s 200th birthday.

Highlights of the 2016-17 season included the 200th anniversary concert of Niels Gade with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir, filmed for Danish TV, the opening gala concert of La Seine Musicale featuring Sandrine Piau, and an astounding production of Haydn’s Creation staged by the Catalan group Fura dels Baus.   

This season opened with Beethoven’s Egmont, directed by Séverine Chavrier, at La Seine Musicale and Theater an der Wien, followed by performances of the final symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven in Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Katowice and Warsaw. In February and March 2018, Laurence Equilbey works with Insula orchestra, Natalie Clein and Alice Sara Ott in a programme celebrating Beethoven and French 19^th century composer Louise Farrenc, with performances at the Grand Théâtre de Provence, La Seine Musicale, and London’s Barbican. She then conducts Beethoven’s 4^th and 5^th piano concertos with Nicholas Angelich and Insula orchestra, and closes the season with Mozart’s Thamos, King of Egypt.