Ars Nova Copenhagen, Mads Haabers Quartet, Orpheus Vokalensemble
Biography Ars Nova Copenhagen, Mads Haabers Quartet, Orpheus Vokalensemble
The Orpheus Vokalensemble
was founded in 2005 as the professional chamber choir of the Landesmusikakademie Baden-Württemberg. This is an international ensemble which places the highest vocal demands on its members. Internationally recognized choral conductors are engaged for each assignment, and they exercise lasting influence on the artistic quality of the ensemble. Its model is the legendary Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (New York), whose name it shares. Its artistic aims, in the preparation and performance of works, are to bring the fundamentals of chamber music – personal commitment and mutual respect – to bear on the work of a vocal ensemble. Its members have the right to participate in the choice of repertoire, soloists, conductors and concert programs. Several composers have already written works for the Orpheus Vokalensemble, including Bo Hansson, Knut Nystedt, Gregor Hübner and Jürgen Essl. In 2006 the ensemble was invited to the International Lake Constance Festival. Other invitations to important festivals have followed.
ARS NOVA Copenhagen
is a 12-piece vocal ensemble founded in 1979 and is widely recognized as one of the world's finest of its kind. The ensemble's chief conductor and artistic director since 2003 is the acclaimed British conductor Paul Hillier. Ars Nova has also worked with a.o. Bo Holten, Tamás Vetö (both former chief conductors), Kaspars Putnins, Andrew Lawrence King, Anthony Rooley, Kees Boeke, Michael Bojesen and Søren K. Hansen all of whom have appeared as guest conductors.
The ensemble specializes in the interpretation of the polyphonic choral music of the renaissance and new vocal music. Ars Nova is also building collaborations with creative artists in different fields such as drama, film, and ballet, as well as cultivating new modes of concert performance and innovative repertoire. The group's performances are marked with precision and nerve and with a sound that attracts attention worldwide.
With an annual concert season in Copenhagen and Aarhus, numerous concerts in the rest of Denmark and recurring tours worldwide, the group is now more in demand than ever. In the recent years the group has visited Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Italy and China. In 2021, the group will visit most of Denmark with a longer concert tour. Among other things on the occasion of the postponed Reunification of South Jutland anniversary and with a new work by the Danish composer Signe Lykke for 12 voices and electronics. After a hopefully successful premiere in November at Takkelloftet at the Royal Theater, the trip goes to the USA with the newly written stage work Book of Mountains and Seas with music by the Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo and scenography by the acclaimed puppet maker Basil Twist.
Ars Nova has recorded a large number of CDs winning numerous awards, including a Grammy for The Little Match Girl Passion with music by David Lang (Harmonia Mundi). In 2020, an album entitled “… and …” (NAXOS) with music by Arvo Pärt, Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw and a number of Italian medieval songs was released in the autumn. BBC Music Magazine wrote: "This recording offers spiritual revelation and sonic pleasure from start to finish" and in Chorzeit, "The longing for divine purity, clarity and steadfastness that one can directly experience here is timeless.
