Happy New Year!
We’re excited and proud to welcome the Swedish barbershop vocal quartet Ringmasters to the artist list. These master-entertainers fuse jaw-dropping a cappella virtuosity with the infectious energy of pop music. In January they have concerts in Spain, Germany and Luxembourg. They will also be in London to record with VOCES8 and composer Eric Whitacre for an exciting release later this year.
VOCES8 begins an exceptionally busy year with January concerts that start at Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica – their first time in that beautiful and iconic venue. They then perform in Munich before 4 concerts in Italy, then the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Cadogan Hall in London, and a series of concerts at the huge annual La Folle Journée, Nantes. Their schedule for the next few months is here.
VOCES8 is holding soprano auditions, to start during the 2026-2027 season, with an application deadline of 1st February. More details are here.
The VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble have concerts at the prestigious Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia, and in Spain. The Ensemble is a vocal group made up of young professional singers who have previously been part of the annual VOCES8 Scholars programme, and have concerts and other events listed here.
APOLLO5 has already given concerts in the snow in Germany and UK, and later this month spends time recording for both audio and video.
The US-based ensemble Lyyra had Christmas success with a 3-track release with their label Warner Classics. Take look at this unlisted YouTube video of the group singing Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Paul Smith will be running workshops this month for the VOCES8 Foundation’s French Sing’In Association, as well as joining VOCES8 at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg for a special project for children.
As well as presenting his show on Classic FM, Zeb Soanes is in rehearsal this month for his show ‘Two Halves of Guinness’, in which he brings the life of Sir Alec Guinness to stage across the UK. Click here for more info.
Darius Lim is as busy as ever, his album ‘Songs of Dreams’ on the Naxos label showing the composing and conducting talent.
Jason Max Ferdinand conducts a concert project called with award-winning Florida-based ensemble Seraphic Fire. He will also be in London as part of a jury for Tenebrae’s ‘Undiscovered Voices’ live final. Jason has just written a new piece for Tenebrae, for release this year, their 25th Anniversary.