Director: Barnaby Smith
The VOCES8 Foundation Choir “warm and as ever pitch-perfect” (5★ BBC Music Magazine) is a group of professional chamber singers with a silky yet punchy sound, sublime blend and possessing the precision and agility of its namesake, VOCES8 – “the crème de la crème of the English choral tradition” (dCS Audio, Charlotte Gardner).
A 2026 concert at the Rheingau Musik Festival of its ‘Crown and Glory’ programme was described as having “Impact, nobility and irresistible audience appeal… refined intonation and articulation” (Wiesbadener Kurier), as well as an “impressive richness of sound” (Rheingau Echo). The ensemble’s members are connected to the Foundation through present or past membership of VOCES8, APOLLO5, Lyyra, the VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble or the Foundation’s LIVE From London online concert series.
Under Artistic Director and conductor Barnaby Smith’s guidance, the group has performed both a cappella and orchestral repertoire by composers ranging from Bach, Byrd, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Walton and Vaughan Williams to new commissions from living composers. The choir, in large chamber or consort form, has performed at renowned festivals and venues around the world and has collaborated with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra as well as undertaking projects with the Foundation’s own Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Kraemer, and soloists such as Jack Liebeck, Anna Dennis, Carolyn Sampson and Iestyn Davis.
The VOCES8 Foundation Choir has recorded and filmed world premieres by Mårten Jansson (Requiem Novum on VOCES8 Records), Christopher Tin (The Lost Birds on Decca Records), Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach (Rose Ever Blooming for VOCES8 Records) and the VOCES8 Foundation’s current Composer-in-Residence Taylor Scott Davis (Magnificat and carol arrangements on Decca Classics) as well as performing new choral orchestrations of works by composers such as Rebecca Dale, Gabriel Fauré and Eric Whitacre.
The latest Decca release featuring the choir is i carry your heart, an acclaimed album of music by Taylor Scott Davis including the premiere recording of his Requiem. The Choir will appear on Ola Gjeilo’s next Decca album in Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass and other works, due for release in early 2027.
Director: Barnaby Smith
The VOCES8 Foundation Choir “warm and as ever pitch-perfect” (5★ BBC Music Magazine) is a group of professional chamber singers with a silky yet punchy sound, sublime blend and possessing the precision and agility of its namesake, VOCES8 – “the crème de la crème of the English choral tradition” (dCS Audio, Charlotte Gardner).
A 2026 concert at the Rheingau Musik Festival of its ‘Crown and Glory’ programme was described as having “Impact, nobility and irresistible audience appeal… refined intonation and articulation” (Wiesbadener Kurier), as well as an “impressive richness of sound” (Rheingau Echo). The ensemble’s members are connected to the Foundation through present or past membership of VOCES8, APOLLO5, Lyyra, the VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble or the Foundation’s LIVE From London online concert series.
Under Artistic Director and conductor Barnaby Smith’s guidance, the group has performed both a cappella and orchestral repertoire by composers ranging from Bach, Byrd, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Walton and Vaughan Williams to new commissions from living composers. The choir, in large chamber or consort form, has performed at renowned festivals and venues around the world and has collaborated with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra as well as undertaking projects with the Foundation’s own Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Kraemer, and soloists such as Jack Liebeck, Anna Dennis, Carolyn Sampson and Iestyn Davis.
The VOCES8 Foundation Choir has recorded and filmed world premieres by Mårten Jansson (Requiem Novum on VOCES8 Records), Christopher Tin (The Lost Birds on Decca Records), Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach (Rose Ever Blooming for VOCES8 Records) and the VOCES8 Foundation’s current Composer-in-Residence Taylor Scott Davis (Magnificat and carol arrangements on Decca Classics) as well as performing new choral orchestrations of works by composers such as Rebecca Dale, Gabriel Fauré and Eric Whitacre.
The latest Decca release featuring the choir is i carry your heart, an acclaimed album of music by Taylor Scott Davis including the premiere recording of his Requiem. The Choir will appear on Ola Gjeilo’s next Decca album in Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass and other works, due for release in early 2027.