Listen to the beautiful voices of VOCES8
From the website VOCES8 : "The British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos.
VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues in its 15-year career, and in the 2020-2021 season they are scheduled to perform 120 concerts in the UK and across Europe, in the USA and Japan. The season begins online with Live From London, the ground-breaking global streaming festival hosted by the VOCES8 Foundation that connects performers with audiences around the world.
This season sees the launch of the VOCES8 Digital Academy, an online choral program for high schools and colleges featuring live interaction with members of the ensemble, live and recorded lectures, and video resources to learn and perform music from the renaissance to today.
With an on-going program of recordings, videos and live broadcasts, VOCES8 is heard regularly on albums, international television and radio, as well as maintaining a vibrant web performance presence. The ensemble is a Decca Classics artist and also releases on its own label, VOCES8 Records. The latest album ‘After Silence’ topped the charts, and a major new project with Decca Classics is planned for release in 2021.
VOCES8 is passionate about music education and is the flagship ensemble of the music charity the VOCES8 Foundation. Engaging in a broad range of outreach work that reaches up to 40,000 people a year, the group runs an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the Foundation’s home in London, the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church. Dedicated to supporting promising young singers, the group awards eight annual choral scholarships through the VOCES8 Scholars initiative. These scholarships are linked to the annual Milton Abbey Summer School at which amateur singers of all ages are invited to work and perform with VOCES8. Through the separate VOCES8 USA Foundation there is another set of 12 talented Scholars.
VOCES8 is proud to have Roxanna Panufnik as the group’s Composer-in-Residence, and Jim Clements as Arranger-in-Residence. The ensemble has premiered commissions from Jonathan Dove, Roxanna Panufnik, Alexander Levine, Paul Mealor, Alexia Sloane, Alec Roth, Ben Parry, Ola Gjeilo, Mårten Jansson, Philip Stopford, Graham Lack, Thomas Hewitt Jones and Owain Park. In this season they will premiere works from Ken Burton, Roderick Williams, Jocelyn Hagen, Melissa Dunphy, Taylor Davis and Paul Smith. The ensemble has collaborated with ensembles and soloists including the Academy of Ancient Music, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rachel Podger, and welcomed artists on its recordings such as Mary Bevan, Nick Deutsch, Jonathan Dove, Sibeal and others.
As ambassadors for Edition Peters the ensemble publishes material including the VOCES8 Method. Developed by Paul Smith, co-founder of VOCES8, this renowned and unique teaching tool is available in four languages and adopts music to enhance development in numeracy, literacy and linguistics. Also available are two anthologies of its arrangements, and an ever-expanding ‘VOCES8 Singles’ range."