The dual shared passion for folk singing and the Occitan cause led nine amateur singers from the Grana and Stura valleys (CN) in August 1999 to form a mixed-voice choral group under the name l’Escabòt.

Fabrizio Simondi serves as director, one of the founding musicians with Sergio Berardo of “Lou Dalfin“, also known to folk singing enthusiasts as the creator and founder of the Còro de la Cevito, of which he was director until 1998.

The “group” (which is precisely the translation of escabòt) performs exclusively pieces drawn from the immense tradition of Occitan folk music from both sides of the Alps, a direct descendant of troubadour inspiration.

A rigorously Occitan repertoire—like the language used daily by the choir members—from the valleys of Cuneo to Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony, featuring classics of Occitan singing and numerous pieces from the most ancient tradition, in sober and effective polyphonic arrangements.

The group has currently recorded five CDs: Fasem festa (released in 2002), Sem Montanhòls (2006), Viva L’Enfant novel (2007, entirely dedicated to Nové), Beluguetas (2013, the result of research on songs for early childhood), and Velhàa (2018, a live recording of the concert held at the church of San Giovanni in Caraglio on May 21, 2016).

The group has participated in numerous festivals and events, including the major pan-Occitan festival l’Estivada in Rodez, the Festival Européen de Chant Choral in Embrun, the Europa Cantat festival in Turin, and the folk arts and music festival Tournez la Meule in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in addition to more than two hundred concerts throughout the Occitan valleys, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Switzerland, and especially in Occitania beyond the Alps.

The energy and passion conveyed and expressed by l’Escabòt, with great audience engagement at their concerts, have always been recognized as a new and original expression of the identity awareness of the population of the Valadas.