LOUISIANA'S PREMIERE ORCHESTRAL FUSION ENSEMBLE

Your Home. Your Culture. Your Orchestra.

About Us

Born where the Atchafalaya Basin fans into a maze of cypress swamps and Cajun towns, the Atchafalaya Orchestra traces its roots to the planning of the inaugural Louisiana Christmas Day concert when Music and Artistic Director André Courville began dreaming of an ensemble that could play Bach as naturally as it could play Balfa. Those brainstorming sessions grew into our fusion-genre ensemble that debuted at Lafayette’s Heymann Performing Arts Center in 2023. Courville’s aim was simple yet ambitious: make classical music accessible while folding in the Cajun, Creole, and folk sounds that define life along his beloved home in the bayou.

In 2025, the orchestra debuted its first Baroque on the Bayou festival in St. Martin Parish which invited locals and visitors alike to experience Baroque music and beyond in the intimate settings for which it was written, including NUNU Arts & Culture Collective in Arnaudville and the 200-year-old Duchamp Opera House in St. Martinville.

Today, the Atchafalaya Orchestra stands as Bayou Teche Music Productions’ flagship ensemble, performing everything from Vivaldi to Zydeco to world premieres of new works.

Mission

To perform historically informed repertoire while commissioning and premiering new works that recast Louisiana’s musical heritage through a modern lens.

To present concerts in meaningful parish venues to keep the art form accessible, authentic, and intimately connected to the community that inspires it.

To foster a spirit of openness that invites classical, Cajun, and Zydeco musicians, composers, and other artists to create side-by-side.

To offer workshops, outreach, and side-by-side programs that nurture the next generation of performers and culture-bearers in St. Martin Parish and beyond.

Vision

We envision an orchestra that mirrors the wetlands it calls home: flowing, diverse, and full of unexpected confluences. By bridging different musical worlds and welcoming fresh perspectives to the stage, the Atchafalaya Orchestra seeks to become a cultural anchor for South Louisiana—a place where Baroque elegance, Cajun accordion riffs, and contemporary compositions meet without barriers, sparking pride in local audiences and curiosity in newcomers.