Les Délices (pronounced Lay day-lease) fascinates and inspires audiences by exploring music of the past in ways that spark creativity and empower people of all ages to think differently about music and culture. Founded by baroque oboist Debra Nagy in 2009, Les Délices has established a reputation for unique programs that “can’t help but get one listening and thinking in fresh ways” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and The New York Times observed that “Concerts and recordings by Les Délices are journeys of discovery.”

Audiences across the U.S. have fallen in love with Les Délices’ elegant and thoughtful performances that stand “at the intersection of rediscovery and contemporary sensibility” (Total Baroque).  Recent and upcoming performances for the ensemble include Cal Performances, Music Before 1800 (New York City), the Boston Early Music Festival, Morrison Chamber Music Center at San Francisco State University, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, San Francisco Early Music Society, the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, and The Frick Collection. In addition to touring engagements, Les Délices presents an annual concert series in Northeast Ohio and has been featured on local and national radio and TV. Les Délices has also released eight acclaimed CDs that make compelling cases for the music of lesser-known French Baroque composers (Myths & Allegories and Age of Indulgence), explore the relationship between airs de cours and jazz (Songs without Words), and celebrate the eighteenth-century roots of traditional Scots songs and reels (The Highland Lassie). Their 2025 release, The Poet & the Prodigy, was lauded as “superb,” and “outstandingly beautiful,” by American Record Guide while Arcadian Dreams (AVIE, 2026) featuring rising-star soprano Hannah De Priest “stands out for its subtlety {and] genuine dynamism” (Total Baroque).

While music of the French Baroque remains a core specialty of Les Délices, recent projects have seen Les Délices bring their “outstanding artistry and verve” (American Record Guide) to music by Black eighteenth-century composer Charles Ignatius Sancho, Classical chamber music from the Age of Revolutions, late-Medieval music, and more. The ensemble’s commitment to creating powerful new arts experiences for audiences extends to commissioning works that expand the “canon” of early music: Les Délices will complete a multi-year commissioning project  exploring myth and its impact on our lives in 2027 that has seen the ensemble premiere new works by Viet Cuong, Gilda Lyons, and Damien Geter. 

The global pandemic marked an important evolutionary period for the ensemble. Les Délices was a leader in conceiving concerts for the virtual space and created SalonEra, a webseries and podcast for early music that opened a world of music to audiences at home. Entering its 7th Season in 2026-27, Les Délices has produced over 60 SalonEra episodes and created feature opportunities for over 90 artists while earning support and recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts (2023) and Early Music America (2022 Laurette Goldberg Award). Visit www.salonera.org and www.lesdelices.org to learn more.

UPDATED MAY 2026. PLEASE DESTROY ALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS.