VOCES8
VOCES8
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 7pm
2023 Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 seamlessly integrates tone, balance, and expression in a radiant musical experience unlike any other. Formed in 2005, the ensemble represents the highest caliber of a capella through their performances and collaborations with leading musicians, orchestras, conductors, and soloists around the globe. Put best by CD Review, BBC Radio 3, “The slickest of the lot…fans of a cappella ought to hear this.” Join Chamber Music Columbus in witnessing these eight soaring voices grace the Southern Theatre.
Eleonora Poignant, soprano
Katie Jeffries-Harris, alto
Barnaby Smith, artistic director
Blake Morgan, tenor
Euan Williamson, tenor
Christopher Moore, baritone
Dominic Carver, bass
Savannah Porter, soprano
PROGRAM
O Clap Your Hands – ORLANDO GIBBONS (1583–1625)
Let My Love Be Heard – JAKE RUNESTAD (b. 1986)
Bogoroditse Devo – SERGEI RACHMANINOV (b. 1873–1943)
Straighten Up and Fly Right – NAT ‘KING’ COLE, arr. JIM CLEMENTS (1919-1965)
Fever – OTIS BLACKWELL, arr. JIM CLEMENTS (1809-1847)
and the swallow – CAROLINE SHAW (b. 1982)
Lux Aeterna (Nimrod) – EDWARD ELGAR, arr. JOHN CAMERON (1857-1934)
— Interval —
Bourrée – JS Bach, arr. Ward Swingl
Underneath the Stars – KATE RUSBY, arr. Jim Clements (b. 1973)
As Vesta Was – THOMAS WEELKES – (1576-1623)
Dessus le marché d’Arras – ORLANDO DI LASSO (1532-1594)
The Sound of Silence – PAUL SIMON, arr. ALEXANDER L’ESTRANGE (b. 1941)
Vincent – DON MCLEAN, arr. JIM CLEMENTS (b. 1945)
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – LORENZ HART & RICHARD RODGERS, arr. ALEXANDER L’ESTRNAGE
I Get a Kick out of New York – COLE PORTER & FRED EBB arr. ALEXANDER L’ESTRANGE
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 around the world, their 20th Anniversary season, including a birthday celebration concert at the Barbican, London.
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, Chanticleer, The King’s Singers, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, 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.
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. Their new album “Nightfall” is released in September 2024. Recent releases are “A Choral Christmas” in which VOCES8 joins its own Foundation Choir and Orchestra in a joyful selection of favourite carols and featuring the premiere 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.
General Management of VOCES8 is provided by Robin Tyson at Podium Music Ltd.