The first draft of a male choir in Salies dates back to 1852, but it was in 1859 that the constitutive regulations of the association were registered at the prefecture of the Basses-Pyrénées under the name of the "Chorale des enfants de Salies". The years passed and this choir participated in numerous competitions as evidenced by the medals that still adorn the banner offered by Doctor Coustalé de Larroque, physician to Napoleon III. It was also at this time that the Orphéon became the interpreter of the Salisian poet Al Cartero, also the author of several plays in Béarnais and a friend of Frédéric Mistral, the great Provençal poet. After the Second World War, the Orphéon diversified its repertoire for the first time and performed songs in French as well as in Basque, a neighboring language but so different from our Béarnais. Today, the Orphéon de Salies (there is a slight change of name) is beginning a new stage in its long life, it is doing so with a new direction of new singers, even if many old ones are still present. At the same time, the repertoire has expanded to various European languages, while preserving its Béarnese heritage. 160 years later, the Orphéon is not only alive and well but also full of projects.

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