Voce Chamber Choir
Encyclopedia
Voce is a London
-based chamber choir
founded in 2003 by Harry Briggs and Suzi Digby
.
Based in Grosvenor Chapel
in Mayfair
, the choir is made up of around thirty singers in their 20s and 30s and covers a wide ranging and challenging repertoire of primarily a cappella music. Past concerts have featured European sacred music, Arabic music, gospel, jazz and even a programme alternating European renaissance music with traditional African chant.
The choir has performed with several distinguished guest conductors including Ralph Allwood
, Mike Brewer
, Ken Burton and Tim Sutton.
In July 2010, Voce performed a programme which revived music from the Montagu Music Collection at Boughton House
, including an anthem composed by Giovanni Bononcini for the Duke of Marlborough which had not been performed since the 18th Century. The programme also featured a new commission from composer Mike Brewer
entitled 'Amore Vittorioso', sponsored by the BBC
Performing Arts Fund.
In March 2009, Voce performed the London premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies
’ setting of the poem ‘The Five Acts of Harry Patch
’, by poet laureate Andrew Motion
, accompanied by the London Mozart Players
.
In May 2007 Voce performed alongside Willard White
at the memorial service of Frank Johnson
.
The choir's self-titled debut album of European choral works, recorded at Queens’ College, Cambridge, was released in November 2010.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based chamber choir
Chamber choir
A chamber choir or group of chamber singers is the choral equivalent of a chamber ensemble, using voices instead of instruments. This prestigious choir will usually consist of 20-40 elite and dedicated singers. Several chamber choir formats exist, ranging from barbershop groups to exclusively...
founded in 2003 by Harry Briggs and Suzi Digby
Suzi Digby
Suzi Digby, Baroness Eatwell, OBE is a British conductor, musician and teacher.-Background:Susan Elizabeth Digby read music at King's College London where she studied piano and singing...
.
Based in Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, England, built in 1730s it inspired many churches in New England...
in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, the choir is made up of around thirty singers in their 20s and 30s and covers a wide ranging and challenging repertoire of primarily a cappella music. Past concerts have featured European sacred music, Arabic music, gospel, jazz and even a programme alternating European renaissance music with traditional African chant.
The choir has performed with several distinguished guest conductors including Ralph Allwood
Ralph Allwood
Ralph Allwood was the Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College in the UK until September 2011. He is a British conductor and has set up many musical events, including the Eton Choral Courses of which there are now seven a year....
, Mike Brewer
Michael C. Brewer
Michael C. Brewer is musical director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He also conducts Laudibus, a chamber choir. Brewer has a master of music degree and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995....
, Ken Burton and Tim Sutton.
In July 2010, Voce performed a programme which revived music from the Montagu Music Collection at Boughton House
Boughton House
Boughton House is a country house about north-east of Kettering off the A43 road near Geddington in Northamptonshire, England, which belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch.-History:...
, including an anthem composed by Giovanni Bononcini for the Duke of Marlborough which had not been performed since the 18th Century. The programme also featured a new commission from composer Mike Brewer
Michael C. Brewer
Michael C. Brewer is musical director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He also conducts Laudibus, a chamber choir. Brewer has a master of music degree and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995....
entitled 'Amore Vittorioso', sponsored by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Performing Arts Fund.
In March 2009, Voce performed the London premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
’ setting of the poem ‘The Five Acts of Harry Patch
Harry Patch
Henry John "Harry" Patch , known in his latter years as "the Last Fighting Tommy", was a British supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving soldier to have fought in the trenches of the First World War...
’, by poet laureate Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion
Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.- Life and career :...
, accompanied by the London Mozart Players
London Mozart Players
The London Mozart Players is a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. The LMP is the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom whose performances and recordings focus largely on the core repertoire from the Classical era...
.
In May 2007 Voce performed alongside Willard White
Willard White
Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British bass-baritone.-Early life:He was born into a poor but supportive Jamaican family in Kingston. His father was a dockworker, his mother a housewife. White first began to learn music by listening to the radio and singing Nat King Cole...
at the memorial service of Frank Johnson
Frank Johnson (journalist)
Frank Robert Johnson was an English journalist.-Education:Johnson failed his Eleven Plus examination, and was educated at a state secondary school in Shoreditch in East London, which he left at the age of 16...
.
The choir's self-titled debut album of European choral works, recorded at Queens’ College, Cambridge, was released in November 2010.