VOCES8 | Biography

The 2023 Grammy-nominated 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 musicians, orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos which is shared both online and in person.

VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues since its inception in 2005 including Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, Cité de la Musique Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA Beijing, Sydney Opera House, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall Singapore, Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City amongst many others. This season they perform over 100 concerts in the UK, across Europe, the USA, Australia and Asia.

They have collaborated in concert and in the recording studio with musicians including Paul Simon, Jacob Collier, Eric Whitacre, Christopher Tin, Olafur Arnalds, Cody Fry, Rachel Podger, Jack Liebeck, Bomsori Kim, Jonathan Dove, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and others.

VOCES8 is passionate about music education and is the flagship ensemble of music charity the VOCES8 Foundation which actively promotes ‘Music Education For All’. Engaging in a broad range of in-person outreach work that reaches up to 40,000 people a year, the Foundation runs an annual programme of workshops and masterclasses at the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church, London. Dedicated to supporting promising young singers, VOCES8 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 learn and perform with VOCES8. Through the separate VOCES8 USA Foundation there is another set of twelve talented Scholars.

VOCES8’s entrepreneurial and community spirit is fostered by Co-Founders Paul and Barnaby Smith. The Covid−19 pandemic gave the impetus for VOCES8 to transform its already exceptional offerings, nurturing a new online audience community providing a chance to engage with classical music in new ways. Pioneering initiatives include the LIVE From London online festival and the VOCES8 Digital Academy.

LIVE From London was created as a specific response to the pandemic. Winning praise for its collaborative approach with artists, press and audiences around the world the team has delivered ten digital festivals to date, broadcasting over 100 concerts and selling 250,000 tickets around the world. The VOCES8 Digital Academy is an online choral programme for high schools, colleges and individuals 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. Both LIVE From London and the Digital Academy are filmed by VOCES8 Studios, the in-house recording company.

Alongside their online work VOCES8 is heard regularly on albums, international television and radio. The ensemble is a Decca Classics artist, also releasing on its own label, VOCES8 Records. The Decca Classics recording of Christopher Tin’s “The Lost Birds” featuring VOCES8 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy-Award in 2023. The newest albums are “A Choral Christmas” in which VOCES8 joins its own Foundation Choir and Orchestra in a joyful selection of favourite carols with sparkling new arrangements and featuring the premiere recording of Taylor Scott Davis’s “Magnificat”; “Home” conducted by Eric Whitacre, featuring his extraordinary work “The Sacred Veil” which reached the top of the classical charts in both the UK and USA; and “Seven Psalms” by Paul Simon in which VOCES8 was thrilled to participate.

VOCES8 is proud to be working with Ken Burton as the group’s Composer-in-Residence and Jim Clements as Arranger-in-Residence. The ensemble has premiered commissions from Jonathan Dove, Roxanna Panufnik, Roderick Williams, Paul Smith, Jocelyn Hagen, Melissa Dunphy, Ken Williams, Taylor Scott Davis, Alexander Levine, Alexia Sloane, Alec Roth, Ben Parry, Ola Gjeilo, Mårten Jansson, Philip Stopford, Graham Lack, Thomas Hewitt Jones and Owain Park. They publish arrangements of its music, original compositions and educational material with the new digital VOCES8 Publishing house, and with Edition Peters. The VOCES8 Method written by Paul Smith is a renowned and unique teaching tool now available in four languages that adopts music to enhance development in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.

General Management of VOCES8 is provided by Robin Tyson at Podium Music.

For more information about the music education programmes offered by VOCES8 and the VOCES8 Foundation please visit www.voces8.foundation.