Vox Luminis
Vox Luminis is a Belgian early music vocal ensemble created in 2004 by Artistic Director Lionel Meunier. The ensemble performs over 60 concerts a year, appearing on stages in Belgium, across Europe and around the world. Since its inception, the ensemble has been defined by its unique sound, appealing as much through the personality of each timbre as it does through the color and the uniformity of the voices. The size and composition of the group depends on the repertoire, with the core of soloists, mostly from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, often joined by additional performers. The repertoire is essentially Italian, English and German and spans from the 16th to the 18th century.
Trio Mediaeval
The crystalline voices of Trio Mediaeval have captivated audiences since the group was founded in Oslo in 1997. The Grammy-nominated trio’s core repertoire features sacred monophonic and polyphonic medieval music from England, Italy and France; contemporary works written for the ensemble; and traditional Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic ballads and songs. The group’s fruitful relationship with the legendary ECM Records, collaborative spirit, and busy touring schedule has earned them worldwide renown. “Singing doesn’t get more unnervingly beautiful,” wrote Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle, who declared their San Francisco debut “among the musical highlights of the year.” He added, “To hear the group’s note-perfect counterpoint – as pristine and inviting as clean, white linens – is to be astonished at what the human voice is capable of.”
Trio Karénine
Founded in Paris in 2009, Trio Karénine bears the name of Tolstoy’s beautiful and emotionally honest heroine. The trio of Charlotte Juillard (violin), Louis Rodde (cello) and Paloma Kouider (piano) is acclaimed by critics and audiences for its musical integrity and passionate interpretation, and was the top prizewinner at the ARD International Competition in 2013. The group has performed in the world’s most prestigious halls, including the Philharmonie and Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Frick Collection in New York, Salle Bourgie in Montréal, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Herkulessaal and Prinzregententheater in Münich, and the Leiszhalle in Hamburg.
The Tallis Scholars
The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their recordings and concert performances, they have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music throughout the world. Peter Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through good tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound which he feels best serve the Renaissance repertoire, allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard. It is the resulting beauty of sound for which The Tallis Scholars have become so widely renowned.
Sō Percussion
For 20 years and counting, Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the 21st century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (New Yorker). They are celebrated by audiences and presenters for a dazzling range of work: for live performances in which “telepathic powers of communication” (New York Times) bring to life the vibrant percussion repertoire; for an extravagant array of collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, contemporary dance, and theater; and for their work in education and community, creating opportunities and platforms for music and artists that explore the immense possibility of art in our time.
Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts is a live theatrical experience featuring guest actors reading stories selected specifically for each memorable event. The three to four stories are mostly fiction, sometimes classic, sometimes new, and are always read by great actors from stage, screen, and television. Selected Shorts began in 1985 and has enjoyed sold-out performances throughout its history. Produced by Symphony Space in New York City, the stories presented live at Selected Shorts are often featured on the hit public radio show and podcast, which reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners on over 130 stations and streaming services each week.
Jordi Savall
For more than 50 years, Jordi Savall, one of the most versatile musical personalities of his generation, has rescued musical gems from the obscurity of neglect and oblivion and given them back for all to enjoy. A tireless researcher into early music, he interprets and performs the repertory both as a gambist and a conductor. His activities as a concert performer, teacher, researcher and creator of new musical and cultural projects have made him a leading figure in the reappraisal of historical music. Together with Montserrat Figueras, he founded the ensembles Hespèrion XXI (1974), La Capella Reial de Catalunya (1987) and Le Concert des Nations (1989), with whom he explores and creates a world of emotion and beauty shared with millions of early music enthusiasts around the world.
Ruckus
Ruckus is a baroque band with a fresh, visceral approach to early music. The ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of “rough-edged intensity” (New Yorker). Ruckus’ first album, an acclaimed collaboration with Emi Ferguson of Bach Sonatas and Preludes, debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts.
Irish Chamber Orchestra
Irish Chamber Orchestra is Ireland’s most dynamic ensemble. Mixing traditional repertoire with new commissions and collaborating with everyone from DJs to dance companies, ICO pushes the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do. These days, you’re as likely to find the orchestra at the Electric Picnic as Mozartfest, but wherever the group performs, the ICO delivers world-class concerts feted for its energy and style.
The Crossing
The Crossing is a Grammy-winning professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to new music. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir that explore and expand ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir. Many of its nearly 140 commissioned premieres address social, environmental, and political issues. With a commitment to recording its commissions, The Crossing has issued 28 releases, receiving two Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance (2018, 2019), and seven Grammy nominations.