Apollo5 in Grenoble

Auditorium du Musée performance

Vocal ensemble Apollo5 gives another performance in France on November 8th, at the Auditorium du Musée de Grenoble, singing a programme of British music stretching from William Byrd to James MacMillan and Elton John.

The group is based at the Gresham Centre in the City of London and one of two vocal ensembles of the VCM Foundation along with VOCES8. The Foundation’s aim is to inspire people through music with an innovative education outreach programme alongside a busy schedule of concert performances around the world.

Tickets are available through the promoter website here.

See a video of Apollo5 performing live at the Festival La Clé des Portes, France, here.

Keep up with the group’s activities via Facebook. Their recordings are available on Spotify here.

Apollo5’s month long tour of the USA

Apollo5 is embarking on its first major tour of the USA, giving 18 concerts in the month of March across 9 states. The 5 singers will give concerts that show off the versatility of their repertoire and voices. Just one of the new arrangements they are taking on tour, by Jim Clements was getting a final rehearsal before they left, at their home at the Gresham Centre. See it here.

You can see their tour dates here.

The Spirit Like a Dove - new album from Apollo5

- The Missa "Quem Dicunt Homines" - Josquin or not Josquin?

- First ever recording of this Renaissance masterpiece

- Collaboration between British and Slovenian vocal ensembles

The Spirit Like a Dove sees a ground-breaking collaboration between the British ensemble Apollo5 and the Slovenian Ingenium Ensemble. The ensembles have brought to life a Mass buried and forgotten for nearly 500 years. Based around the famous motet by Richafort, the authorship of the Missa "Quem dicunt homines" was assumed not to be by famed Renaissance composer Josquin Des Prez. However, recent academic research gives convincing attribution to him. In recording the Mass, the title of which translates as “Who do men say that I am” (which could even be a pun left us by Josquin to decide authorship) the two groups aim to allow it more public recognition and hope that it will stand alongside the remainder of Josquin’s vast set of works.

Released on the VCM Records label and recorded in the beautiful acoustics of the Gresham Centre, St Anne & St Agnes Church, London, by the team behind VOCES8, this recording has already garnered praise from Sid Nuncius, Amazon #1 Hall of Fame reviewer specialising in early music:

“I like the recording very much. The overall sound is lovely - I'm a bit of a sucker for that resonant (but not over-resonant) acoustic which makes the basses in particular really ring. Classy singing, too: faultless intonation, very nicely balanced and blended and with a lovely fluency of line."

Buy the album now at Amazon.

The inaugural Gresham Centre Festival

“Sing to the City”

The Gresham Centre is home to the VCM Foundation who have launched the inaugural festival this week. The events feature the Foundation’s two performing ensembles – Apollo5 and VOCES8 – but there are opportunities to hear the VOCES8 Scholars and to work with the Foundation’s Artistic Director, Barnaby Smith, on a conducting workshop.

See more about the Festival here.

To buy tickets for the closing concert on November 14th, click here.