Eclectic Voices/Sweelinck Ensemble/Bach Mass in B Minor

Event information

Who are Eclectic Voices? They've sung jazz with the Swingle Singers, baroque masterworks with Europe's greatest period ensembles, performed everything from Britten to Chick Corea as well as their own unique arrangements. Over 20 years (2011 is their anniversary year) Eclectic Voices have taken their astonishing repertoire and hard-hitting performances around Europe from their base on Highbury Hill. Just how do you get your head around a choir as diverse as this? By coming to see them of course! On April 2nd in Covent Garden.

The brains behind EV is Scott Stroman: himself an enigmatic figure. Conductor-at-large of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and director of their 'Hit Squad' touring group he was also head of Jazz at the Guildhall for twenty years and directs the London Jazz Orchestra. Scott has earned a reputation as the Renaissance man of British contemporary music, conducting international orchestras, musical theatre, jazz, opera and choral music and is one of the UK's most respected contemporary composers.

This is a serious choir with a mission to smash the boundaries of the 'amateur' choir. And what better instrument than Johann Sebastian Bach's monumental Mass in B Minor? The piece is the ultimate expression of baroque choral music, the pinnacle of the mass genre refined under Bach and it survives as a landmark in the evolution of Western music. Bach composed some parts of the mass at the beginning of his career, others near his death when he had already gone blind, so it compasses the entire span of Bach's extraordinary skill and contribution to our tradition. Bach's piece synthesised the two great musical traditions of his day: Lutheran congregational masses and Catholic polyphony. Eclectic Voices, those great amalgam artists are the perfect group to bring you a freshly honed performance that will burn the glory of the music right through you.