MONTEVERDI CHOIR

Ever since its founding in the 1960s, the Monteverdi Choir has been a leading force in the world of choral music. Through a combination of consummate technique, historically informed performance practice and a strong appreciation for visual impact, the Choir constantly strives to bring fresh perspectives, immediacy and drama to its performances across the world.

In 2022, the Monteverdi Choir performed works by Mendelsohn and Brahms with the Berlin Philharmonic, music by Bach, Schütz and Schein at prestigious festivals across Europe and Beethoven’s late masterpiece: Missa solemnis at the BBC Proms, Berliner Festspiele and Wratislavia Cantans. The year culminated in a tour of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Chapelle Royale, Château de Versailles, Versailles and at our London home, St Martinin-the-Fields, which was livestreamed on Deutsche Grammophon’s new digital platform – Stage+.

In 2021, the Choir performed its first live streamed concert; Bach’s St John Passion with the English Baroque Soloists, filmed in Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre. The ensemble returned to live performing in the summer with a programme of Handel and Bach at the BBC Proms and Berliner Festspiele, ending the year with a tour of Berlioz’s sacred oratorio L’enfance du Christ

The Monteverdi Choir accompanied the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in performances of Beethoven’s 9th symphony in Barcelona, New York and Chicago in 2020 celebrating the 250th anniversary of the composer.

The Monteverdi Choir has taken part in a variety of projects across different repertoires, ranging from a tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the English Baroque Soloists (EBS) to Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust and Verdi’s Requiem with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR). It has also performed in several staged opera productions, including Orphée et Eurydice at the Royal Opera House (2015), Der Freischütz (2010), Carmen (2009) at the Opéra Comique, and Les Troyens at the Théâtre du Châtelet (2003). In 2017 the Choir took part in the RPS award-winning Monteverdi 450 project, performing all three of Monteverdi’s surviving operas with Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists across Europe and the United States. Amongst its many trailblazing tours was the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, during which the Choir performed all 198 of Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred cantatas in over 60 churches throughout Europe and North America. The entire project was recorded and released by the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra’s record label, Soli Deo Gloria, with Gramophone hailing the venture as ‘one of the most ambitious musical projects of all time’. The Monteverdi Choir has over 150 recordings to its name and has won numerous prizes.

BACH: MASS IN B MINOR MONTEVERDI CHOIR PERSONNEL LIST

Soprano 1

Sam Cobb

Hilary Cronin *

Charlotte La Thrope

Alison Ponsford-Hill

Daisy Walford

Amy Wood

Theano Papadaki ^

Billie Robson ^

Soprano 2

Bethany Horak-Hallett **

Emily Armour

Rebekah Jones

Emily Owen

Angharad Rowlands

Lorna Price ^

Claire Ward ^

Alto

Reginald Mobley **

Sarah Denbee *

Iris Korfker

Hamish McLaren

Simon Ponsford

Matthias Dähling ^

Avalon Summerfield ^

Tenor

Nick Pritchard **

Ben Alden

Jacob Ewens

Jonathan Hanley *

Graham Neal

Gareth Treseder

Jack Harberd ^

Joseph Taylor ^

Bass

Dingle Yandell **

Alex Ashworth *

Jack Comerford

Tom Herring

Michael Lafferty

Alistair Ollerenshaw

Henry Saywell ^

George Vines ^

* Monteverdi Choir soloist ** Guest soloist ^ Monteverdi Apprentice