European Voices was founded by Simon Halsey at the invitation of Sir Simon Rattle as a result of their highly successful 20-year collaboration.
A professional choir of between 20 and 80 voices, European Voices made a sensational debut at the 1999 Salzburg Festival in fully-staged performances of Rameau's Les Boréades with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Rattle. The group made its BBC Proms debut the same year with a semi-staged version of the same work. European Voices collaborated with Thomas Adés and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in performances of Varèse and Weill in the 2000 Aldeburgh Festival and again at the Proms that year. They also formed the chorus in Parsifal with Rattle and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for a London performance in September 2000.
More recently the Choir has appeared again with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Simon Rattle in performances of the St John Passion in London and Paris, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse in London and Brussels and the Brahms Requiem in London, Birmingham and Cologne. Last season, the Choir performed and recorded Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Come Ye Sons of Art with Emmanuelle Haïm’s Le Concert d’Astrée in France, and as part of an ongoing collaboration with Haim toured to France and Spain last Autumn with Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat. Further tours and recording are planned for the future.
European Voices has also developed a relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic, appearing with them in Bernstein’s Wonderful Town in Berlin in December 2002, recorded for TV and DVD release. Together they appeared in concert performances of Idomeneo last summer in Berlin and Luzern, and returned this past Easter for performances at the Salzburg Easter Festival in Cosi fan Tutte and Idomeneo.
Aug 2004/292 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material. We update our biographies regularly. Please contact us if this biography is out of date.