Exquisite Chamber Choir The Sixteen Makes Athens Debut with Old and New Music

From the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center:

Exquisite Chamber Choir The Sixteen Makes Athens Debut with Old and New Music

“Pellucid tones, subtlety of timbre, lush legato phrases and vivid word-painting are just some of the defining characteristics of this group under the baton of the charismatic Harry Christophers.”—Bachtrack

“Arvo Pärt's music is a house on fire and an infinite calm.”—Michael Stipe, R.E.M.

Whether performing a simple medieval hymn or expressing the complex musical and emotional language of a contemporary choral composition, the revered British choir The Sixteen and conductor Harry Christophers do so with tonal warmth, rhythmic precision, and immaculate intonation. The ensemble’s long tradition as a purveyor of early music and the intensity of their performances set them apart as one of the greatest vocal ensembles of our time.

The Sixteen makes its UGA Presents debut Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Hodgson Concert Hall. The program, The Deer's Cry, blends music by English Renaissance composers William Byrd and Thomas Tallis with pieces by modern Estonian minimalist composer Arvo Pärt.

“This is a choir I’ve been eager for Athens audiences to hear for a long time," says UGA Performing Arts Center Director Jeffrey Martin, whose enthusiasm for the group helped foster its first U.S. tour in nearly 20 years. "It’s truly one of the very best, which is saying a lot because the UK is overflowing with outstanding choral ensembles.”

HARRY CHRISTOPHERS

Harry Christophers stands among today’s great champions of choral music. In partnership with The Sixteen, he has set benchmark standards for the performance of everything from late medieval polyphony to important new works by contemporary composers. 

Under his leadership The Sixteen has established its hugely successful annual Choral Pilgrimage, created the Sacred Music series for BBC television, and developed an acclaimed period-instrument orchestra. Highlights of their recent work include an Artist Residency at Wigmore Hall, a large-scale tour of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Fifth Symphony at the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival and a live-streamed performance of MacMillan’s Stabat mater from the Sistine Chapel. Their future projects, meanwhile, comprise extensive tours of the USA and The Netherlands, as well as a continuation of the Choral Pilgrimage 2024 tour.

Harry Christophers served as Artistic Director of the Handel and Haydn Society from 2008 to 2022, and is now their Conductor Laureate. He has worked as guest conductor with, among others, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie. Christophers’s extensive commitment to opera has embraced productions for English National Opera and Lisbon Opera and work with the Granada, Buxton and Grange festivals.

In 2019 he collaborated with BBC Radio 3 presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch to produce a book entitled A New Heaven: Choral Conversations in celebration of the group’s 40th anniversary.

Harry Christophers was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s 2012 Birthday Honours list. He is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and has Honorary Doctorates in Music from the Universities of Leicester, Northumbria, Canterbury Christ Church and Kent.

PERFORMANCE TALK

Join us for a free pre-performance talk by Theresa Chafin in Ramsey Concert Hall from 6:45-7:15 pm.

SUPPORTED BY

Betsy and Blair Dorminey

BUYING TICKETS IS EASY

Securing tickets for UGA Presents performances and other events couldn’t be easier. There are three ways to choose from:

1. Purchase tickets online 24/7 at pac.uga.edu.

2. Call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at (706) 542-4400, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

3. Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center Box Office, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 230 River Road (5 minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)