Contemporary · Architecture

Cité de la musique

Paris

Cité de la musique is a public institution in Paris and a group of buildings designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc. Located on Place de la Fontaine-aux-Lions at Porte de Pantin, on the edge of Parc de la Villette in the Pont-de-Flandres district of the 19th arrondissement, it brings together a set of facilities and services dedicated to music. Its programming is organized around themes and covers early music, classical, contemporary, jazz, world music, current music, and other genres. The site includes two concert halls, la Salle des concerts and l’Amphithéâtre, the latter specially designed for concerts on museum instruments. The Musée de la Musique opened there in 1997, with seasonal exhibitions devoted to artistic figures, musical genres, or geographical areas. Since 2015, after the inauguration of the Philharmonie de Paris, the original building and its programming have been designated as Philharmonie 2, or Cité de la musique, and the institution has been renamed Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris. It also hosts the Ensemble intercontemporain in residence.

Map showing the location of Cité de la musique in Paris
Location of Cité de la musique in Paris

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Cite de la musique and its evolution

The Cite de la musique is a public institution in Paris and a group of buildings designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc. It is located in Parc de la Villette and offers programming that ranges from early music to contemporary music, jazz, world music, and current music. Its programming is organized around themes, giving the institution a structured curatorial identity.

In 1997, the Musee de la Musique opened to the public there, adding a museum function to the site. The institution also hosts the Ensemble intercontemporain in residence. In 2015, with the inauguration of the Philharmonie de Paris, the institution was renamed Cite de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris as a public industrial and commercial institution. From that date, the original building and programming were designated as Philharmonie 2 or Cite de la musique.

The institution was also entrusted by the State with the management of Salle Pleyel as a public industrial and commercial institution, and Salle Pleyel reopened after major renovations managed by the Cite de la musique.

Cite de la Musique

Also known as Philharmonie 2, the Cite de la Musique is a music-focused facility under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. Designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc, it was inaugurated on an unspecified date and contains a set of equipment and services dedicated to music.

The building is located on Place de la Fontaine-aux-Lions at Porte de Pantin, on the edge of Parc de la Villette, in the Pont-de-Flandres district of the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It forms part of the urban and cultural landscape of this area and is identified as a dedicated site for musical activity and services.

Programming and Performance Spaces

Cite de la musique programs performances across two halls, the Salle des concerts and the Amphitheatre, presenting all music types. Its concert activity ranges from ancient and classical music to contemporary, jazz, soul, funk, pop rock, rap, world music, and electronic music. The Amphitheatre is specially designed for concerts featuring museum instruments. The institution also offers seasonal exhibitions at the musee de la Musique, with themes centered on artistic figures, musical genres, or geographical areas.

After the construction of Philharmonie, programming was divided between the Philharmonie and Cite de la musique buildings. It uses the Philharmonie's Grande salle Pierre Boulez, with 2400 symphonic seats, as well as the Studio amphitheater with 200 seats. Other activities take place in the Philharmonie's exhibition space, conference hall, and musical practice workshops.

Historically, the programming has repeatedly featured artists such as Alain Bashung, Yvette Horner, and Sonic Youth, alongside baroque formations and the contemporary composer Pierre Boulez.

Concert Recording and Online Access

Enregistrements et diffusion des concerts provides numerous sound and video archives of concerts at the Cite de la musique. Since 2008, it has developed a video recording policy for concerts at the venue. In 2010, 100 hours of recorded concerts were made accessible on citedelamusiquelive.tv, and the platform also allowed live streaming of about sixty concerts each year. The site citedelamusiquelive.tv was later replaced by live.philharmoniedeparis.fr.