La Cité Bleue

The project

La Cité Bleue Genève is a new international meeting place dedicated to the arts.

The aim of this venue is to promote the creation of performances bringing together leading artists from the worlds of music, theatre, dance, visual arts and circus. At the crossroads of these disciplines, a more general humanist vision seeks to place interdisciplinary exchanges between the arts and humanities at the heart of the project. Completely renovated with contemporary facilities tailored to the needs of artists, the brand new venue is equipped with the Constellation acoustic technology system, unique in Switzerland, which allows for research and experimentation with new sound and artistic possibilities.

Under the auspices of the Cité Bleue Foundation, the general management has been entrusted to Swiss-Argentine harpsichordist and conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón. The choice of such an important performing artist to head an artistic institution is quite unusual.

Throughout the seasons, La Cité Bleue offers musical theatre, pocket operas, chamber music recitals, educational activities, dance and circus, and hybrid forms through an innovative approach to these disciplines. The programme at La Cité Bleue, devised by Leonardo García-Alarcón and his team, is ambitious and innovative, nourished and stimulated by encounters, artistic practice and interdisciplinary exploration of the worlds of art.

Leonardo García-Alarcón

musician, conductor, composer

A dual citizen of Switzerland and Argentina, Leonardo García-Alarcón is invited to perform by the most prestigious musical and operatic institutions, from the Paris Opera to the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the city where he gained his first experience.

After studying piano in Argentina, Leonardo García-Alarcón moved to Europe in 1997 and enrolled at the Geneva Conservatory in the class of harpsichordist Christiane Jaccottet. It was thanks in particular to Gabriel Garrido that he then embarked on a career in baroque music and conducting.

In just a few years, Leonardo García-Alarcón has become one of the most acclaimed conductors of Baroque music, thanks in particular to his highly acclaimed concert productions. He divides his time between Geneva, France, Belgium and his native South America. This has given rise to a form of geographical eclecticism that is reflected in his repertoire.

As a conductor and harpsichordist, he is in demand at festivals and concert halls around the world. He is a regular guest of Les Violons du Roy in Canada, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. He was named best conductor in the 2019 Forum Opéra awards, notably after his triumphant performance of Les Indes Galantes at the Opéra Bastille.

In 2025, he was named Artist of the Year by the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).

Key dates

In 2005, he founded the Franco-Swiss ensemble Cappella Mediterranea.

In 2014, he also founded the Millenium Orchestra in Belgium to accompany the Namur Chamber Choir. He has been the choir’s conductor since 2010, and it is recognised as one of the best baroque choirs today.

In 2021, he became artistic director of La Cité Bleue Genève, which will open its doors in 2024.

Leonardo García-Alarcón and creation

With a taste and vocation for reviving little-known works by Sacrati, Draghi, Falvetti and D’India, he is responsible for the rediscovery of numerous operas by Cavalli, such as Eliogabalo at the Paris Opera in 2016, Il Giasone in Geneva and Erismena at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2017. At the Dijon Opera, he rewrote the music for the missing third act of Antonio Draghi’s El Prometeo in 2018. In 2019, he recreated Francesco Sacrati’s La Finta Pazza and, in December 2020, Luigi Rossi’s Il Palazzo Incantato.

In 2022, he will conduct Lully’s Atys, directed and choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj in Geneva and then in Versailles. Shortly afterwards, he will conduct Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Dijon Auditorium. In September 2022, Leonardo García-Alarcón will premiere an oratorio composed entirely by himself in Ambronay and Geneva: La Passione di Gesù, overo Il Vangelo di Giuda.

A prolific discography unanimously acclaimed by critics.

Highlights include the recording of Draghi’s El Prometeo in 2020, shortly before that of Handel’s Samson with the Millenium Orchestra and the Namur Chamber Choir. In 2021, several albums recorded during lockdown were released: Rebirth (Sony Classical) with Sonya Yoncheva; Lamenti & Sospiri (Ricercar) with Mariana Flores and Julie Roset; Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Alpha Classics) with Valerio Contaldo; and Bach before Bach (Alpha Classics) with violinist Chouchane Siranossian and cellist Bálazs Máté. In 2022, Handel’s Semele was released with the Millenium Orchestra and the Namur Chamber Choir (Ricercar), the world premiere recording of Sacrati’s La Finta Pazza (Château Versailles Spectacles) and a recital by Julie Roset featuring works by Handel.

Leonardo García-Alarcón is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.