photos ©Jon Gregory 2006 and must be credited on all usage

"Cardiff's answer to the King's Singers" "One of the most startling British female choirs of our age"

logo ©Jo Herco 1998

Vivace Singers were created in 1998 by students of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with an aim to perform accompanied and a cappella music for female voices from the sixteenth century to the present day. Generally comprising up to an octet the group works as a true ensemble, without musical director. Their membership now encompasses some of the most promising young female singers primarily resident in Wales. All are soloists in their own right.  They perform and record extensively as freelancers with organisations including the BBC, S4C, Chandos, EMI, Priory Records and Sain. They are often invited to augment other choirs for performances of mixed voice repertoire.  They recorded the choral works of Basil Harwood for Priory Records in March 2005 which marked the debut of Vivace Singers as a mixed voice choir.  Most recently, in March 2006, they recorded the church music of John Ireland continuing their association with Priory Records.  They also made their début at the Ledbury festival in July 2006 singing a programme of Tudor anthems conducted by Adrian Partington continuing their close association with him. The singers perform a very broad repertoire of music including sacred, opera, gospel, folksong, cabaret, musical theatre, jazz and pop, drawn from each individual singer's area of speciality and interest. They also write and arrange their own works, often by request, for broadcasts, concerts, weddings or corporate functions. They are fast-gaining an international reputation which includes working in collaboration with New York based; award winning composer, Steve Cohen whose work is regularly heard in venues including Carnegie Hall.  Vivace Singers premiered a number of his pieces during 2005. With extensive appearances in the UK (including Halifax Chamber Music Festival, Warwick University, St David's Hall in Cardiff and the Wales Millennium Centre lunchtime foyer concert series), the group's international début came in April 2004 when they represented Great Britain at the America Cantat IV Choral Festival in Mexico City.  Corporate entertainment includes performances for the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation, Bosch, Mercedes Benz, Cardiff County Council, Caerphilly Borough Council, Henderson Group One PR, IKEA and Black Horse Ltd. The singers have performed on a number of BBC radio and television broadcasts including Sunday Half Hour, Daily Service and Songs of Praise (St David's Day transmissions in 2001and 2003). They also work in the media music field, most recently recording incidental music by John Hardy for the S4C TV series Fondue, Rhyw a Deinosors (Fondue, Sex and Dinosaurs) broadcast in October 2003.  They renewed their collaboration with John Hardy on 24 & 25 June 2006 when they performed the world premiere of a new choral piece along with Serendipity and Only Men Aloud! entitled Spaces - beyond the end of the world.  Performances to full houses took place at Chapter Arts Centre in Canton, Cardiff.  The work was commissioned by the group and supported with funds from the Arts Council of Wales and the PRS Foundation.  They have performed to critical acclaim at the Lower Machen Festival on 21 June 2006 where they performed works including The Dancers by Grace Williams.  They have also appeared with many of the top Welsh Male Voice Choirs including the Gwalia Singers, the Morriston Orpheus Choir, the Dunvant Male Choir , the Whitland Male Voice Choir and the Haverfordwest Male Voice choir.  They have also appeared alongside Mal Pop and Steve Balsamo at the Swansea Grand Theatre. They are looking forward to strengthening their links with female choirs and ensembles in particular during 2008 as well as their links with West Wales where they return in June 2008 to appear as guests of the Corran Singers. They have two CDs available for purchase, Blue Moon where traditional folksongs, breezy jazz and well-known pop-songs from the eighties are given a dynamic new choral twist and Christmas with Vivace Singers which was featured on the Mal Pope early show on Radio Wales on 21 December 2007. Updated 9 January 2008 Top of Page

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Photo © Brian Tarr 2000 Logo © Jo Herco 1998

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