Héloïse Bernard

Les Heures Grecques / Isola

A collaboration with composer Electra Perivolaris.

It was during their studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, that Electra Perivolaris and Héloïse Bernard started a friendship and a collaboration. Their ongoing collaboration has seen the creation of two newly composed song cycles centered around themes of mixed cultural heritage.

The initial project was a request from Héloïse to Electra to set poems by her friend, the French poet Guillaume Decourt. All the texts are excerpts from his collection of poems Les Heures Grecques, where Decourt explore themes of identity, longing and belonging. Electra is of Greek heritage and lives on the Island of Arran. Both Electra and Héloïse are fruits of mixed identities, a shared perspective that allows them to look at the world from varied and singular places all at once.

Les Heures Grecques by Electra Perivolaris received a first performance given by Electra and Héloïse at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018.

More recently, Electra approached Héloïse with a new song cycle. This time, the inspiration was texts written by her own father, John Perivolaris, also a photographer. The result of this collaboration is Isola. The cycle was premiered at the 2025 Aberdeen Sound Festival, at Cowdray hall, followed by a number of performances in the gallery where John Perivolaris’ pictures were exhibited. Isola develops the themes of Les Heures Grecques, influenced by the ways that diaspora can enable the creation of musical forms which challenge notions of binary musical and personal identities.

More performances in the UK and in France to be confirmed, including at Dunoon Burgh Hall in May 2026, and at the Arran International Festival of Chamber Music and Song 2027.

Electra and Héloïse are now raising funds to record both these cycles with the Scottish label Delphian records.