"One of the most outstanding choirs in a country renowned for choral music�Harry Christophers moulds his vocal ensemble with consummate musicianship, and the performances have seamless intensity." -- The Sunday Telegraph
After twenty-eight years of worldwide performance and recording, The Sixteen is recognised as one of the world’s greatest vocal ensembles. Its special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance and a diversity of 20th century music is drawn from the passions of conductor and founder, Harry Christophers. Originally the choir consisted of sixteen singers performing sixteenth century music, but as the repertoire expanded so have the numbers, and for the past ten years the choir has consisted of eighteen singers.
Over one hundred recordings reflect The Sixteen’s quality in a range of work spanning the music of five hundred years, winning many awards including Grand Prix du Disque, numerous Schallplattenkritik, the coveted Gramophone Award for Early Music, the prestigious Classical Brit Award 2005 for Renaissance and most recently being nominated for a Grammy Award for IKON. These latter two discs were recorded as part of a series for Universal Classics and Jazz.
Associate Artists of the Southbank Centre, London, The Sixteen are also "The Voices of Classic FM". The Sixteen tour throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the Americas and have given regular performances at major concert halls and festivals worldwide, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sydney Opera House, and Vienna Musikverein; also the BBC Proms, and the festivals of La Chaise Dieu, Granada, Lucerne, Istanbul and Salzburg. The vigour and passion of its performance win new fans wherever it performs. At home in the UK, the group promotes an annual series in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, series of concerts in Oxford together with The Choral Pilgrimage, a tour of our finest cathedrals bringing music back to the buildings for which it was written.
The Sixteen is enhanced by the existence of its own period instrument orchestra, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention, and through it Harry Christophers brings fresh insights to music by, amongst others, Purcell, Monteverdi, Bach and Handel.
Over the last six years The Sixteen has been building its own record label, CORO, which now boasts approaching 50 releases. New recordings include Music from the Sistine Chapel, Elin Manhan Thomas' live recording of Handel's Italian Cantatas, Music from the Chapel Royal, both with principals from the Symphony of Harmony and Invention, Victoria's Requiem and recordings that are about to be released such as Brahms' Requiem in the composer’s own 1869 version for choir and piano. These new recordings have been interspersed with discs that were formerly on the Collins label. Bringing together live concerts and recording plans has allowed The Sixteen to develop a strong brand and a glittering catalogue of releases, containing music from the Renaissance and Baroque through to great works of our time.