In 2002, Violinist Richard Schmoucler took up the challenge of forming an ensemble that combines conventional classical music with traditional Eastern European folk. He brought together five fellow musicians from the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris, along with a pianist, a cimbalom player and arranger Cyrille Lehn to create Sirba Octet. This unique ensemble, which offers a fresh perspective on the Klezmer, Yiddish and Tzigane repertoire, released their first album, »A Yiddishe Mame«, on Naïve Classic in 2005. A personal selection of acoustic music steeped in the melodies of Eastern Europe, the album is an anthology of songs with Slavic and Yiddish flavours, memories of founder Richard Schmoucler’s own family gatherings and celebrations. This music, a cornerstone of his culture and his personal consciousness, inspired him to envision an array of performances and to reintroduce this music into his life and his career as a classical musician.

While these melodies, characterized by the migrations of the communities they come from, are naturally imbued with emotion and finesse, it is the colour, depth and originality of Sirba Octet’s particular musical rewriting which sets them apart. Eight musicians with an exceptional gift for spectacular and sensitive interpretation, Sirba Octet stand out from the conventional circuit, skillfully blending genres as well as combining folk instruments with orchestral and chamber music to great effect. What’s more, Sirba Octet has developed this sphere of music into an entirely new genre, »Classical World«.

The common theme throughout the ensemble’s series of shows since 2003, has been a complete immersion into Eastern European folk music. »Tantz!« which means »dance« in Yiddish, provided a starting point for exploring the traditional sound of klezmer and tzigane celebratory dances from Romania, Moldova, Russia and Hungary. The album »Tantz!«, which came out in 2015 on Dolce Volta, was rereleased by Deutsche Grammophon in 2017. On the same label, in 2018, Sirba Octet released »Sirba Orchestra!« an album recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège under the baton of Christian Arming with Nicolas Kedroff at the balalaika.

Sirba Octet have performed their shows both as an octet and with a symphony orchestra at renowned concert halls and festivals in France and abroad. These include: Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Philharmonie de Paris, Shanghai Concert Hall, Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, Russia’s Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, Martha Argerich Festival in Hamburg.

Both new and well-known pieces are often added into Sirba Octet’s performances, thanks to the talent of their indispensable arranger Cyrille Lehn. Echoing the traditional music of Eastern Europe and the repertoires of musical theatre and variety, Sirba Octet have collaborated with singer Isabelle Georges for two shows, »Du Shtetl à New York« and »Yiddish Rhapsody«, with recordings released in 2008 and 2009 on Naïve Classic, and also with Catherine Lara for »Catherine Lara au coeur de l’âme Yiddish«, a highly original album released in 2012 on Sony Music.