Stile Antico

Vocal Ensemble

At a glance

Stile Antico

Vocal Ensemble

It’s never a good idea to miss a concert from this British vocal ensemble: There are no finer singers of early music.
New York Times

http://www.stileantico.co.uk

Stile Antico is firmly established as one of the world’s most accomplished and innovative vocal ensembles.

Biography —

Stile Antico is firmly established as one of the world’s most accomplished and innovative vocal ensembles. Working without a conductor, its twelve members have thrilled audiences on four continents with their fresh, vibrant and moving performances of Renaissance polyphony. Its bestselling recordings have earned accolades including the Gramophone Award for Early Music, Diapason d’or de l’année, Edison Klassiek Award, and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. The group has received three Grammy® nominations, and performed live at the 60th Grammy® Awards at Madison Square Garden.

Based in London, Stile Antico has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. The group enjoys a particularly close association with Wigmore Hall, and has performed at the BBC Proms, Buckingham Palace, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Cité de la Musique, Luxembourg Philharmonie, and Leipzig Gewandhaus. Stile Antico is frequently invited to appear at Europe’s leading festivals: highlights include the Antwerp, Bruges, Utrecht and York Early Music Festivals, the Lucerne Easter Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival

Since its 2009 North American debut at the Boston Early Music Festival, Stile Antico has enjoyed frequent tours to the US and Canada. The group performs regularly in Boston and New York, and has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, Washington’s National Cathedral and Library of Congress, Vancouver’s Chan Centre, and in concert series spanning twenty-five US states. Stile Antico has also appeared in Mexico and Colombia, and in 2018 visited East Asia for the first time, performing in Korea, Macau and Hong Kong.

Stile Antico’s performances are often praised for their immediacy, expressive commitment, and their sensitive and imaginative response to text. These qualities arise from the group’s collaborative working style: members rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to the musical results. The group is also noted for its compelling programming, which often draws out thematic connections between works to shine new light on Renaissance music. In addition to its core repertoire, Stile Antico has premiered works by Joanna Marsh, John McCabe, Nico Muhly, Giles Swayne, and Huw Watkins. The group’s diverse range of collaborators includes Fretwork, the Folger Consort, Marino Formenti, B’Rock, Rihab Azar, and Sting.

Alongside its concert and recording work, Stile Antico is passionate about sharing its repertoire and working style with the widest possible audience, and its masterclasses and workshops are much in demand. As well as leading regular courses at the Dartington International Summer School, the group has been resident at Zenobia Música, and is often invited to work alongside ensembles at universities, festivals, and early music forums. The support of the charitable Stile Antico Foundation has enabled Stile Antico to expand its work with younger people, and to offer bursaries to talented young professional singers and ensembles.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stile Antico has thrown its energy into digital projects, producing a ‘virtual choir’ recording of Tallis’ Spem in Alium, a music film to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage, and a series of lecture-recitals, Sundays with Stile, as well as giving live-streamed concerts from Wigmore Hall and the York Early Music Festival. In early 2021 the group gives further streamed concerts for Boston Early Music Festival, Live From London, and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and releases its first recording on the Decca Classics label, marking 500 years since the death of Josquin.

 

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Reviews —

It’s never a good idea to miss a concert from this British vocal ensemble: There are no finer singers of early music.

New York Times

One of the world’s great vocal ensembles

Vancouver Sun

There are a number of first-rate a capella vocal groups specializing in Renaissance polyphony. Their virtues are the same: balance, purity of voice, the finest feeling for drama. The groups are supported by deep scholarship as well as superb sound engineering. Stile Antico is without doubt among the very best of our generation in this genre, having delivered a flawless series of polyphonic masterpieces in interesting programs.

Audiophile Audition

With Stile Antico so cleanly expressive, so lithe, so well integrated and balanced, this wonderful repertoire had the world’s best possible ambassadors.

Geoff Brown, Arts Desk

Stile Antico was at its best, marshaling color, texture, and pacing to give shape to music that can otherwise seem gorgeous and inert. The Agnus Dei of the Mass was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

Boston Globe

... Stile Antico’s serenely radiant sound set the seal on a deeply satisfying recital.

Classical Source

Stile Antico's rich tapestry of sound unfolded so naturally that I was able to stop listening critically and become transfixed by its beauty

National Public Radio, Washington DC

In short, this was a cappella heaven

The Independent

…the sensuous vocabulary vibrated with that mellifluous vocal bliss only possible with long rehearsals, close listening and constant eye contact. … Stile Antico’s pitch, unanimity and beauty never wavered

The Times

...the brilliant young Stile Antico...The sound was muscular, balanced, and completely vibrato-free, the musicianship impeccable...the programme had a lovely coherenc

The Independent

…an ensemble of breathtaking freshness, vitality and balance

New York Times

…this remains a magnificent display of the very best kind of polyphonic music…the superb singers of Stile Antico are up to the challenge of presenting all the required moods…brilliantly sung – 5 stars

BBC Music Magazine

Stile Antico are one of the brightest new stars in the firmament of Renaissance vocal ensembles…a heartfelt intensity and sense of commitment that make these moving performances very special indeed

The Telegraph

…reaches the very highest level. Their perfoamnce achieves a perfect balance beterrn polyphonic clarity and sense of colour. Breathing as one, the members of Stile Antico give an ideal luminosity to their singing... Indispensible

Opus Haute Définition, February 2007

Stile Antico is often touted as one of Britain’s finest early music a cappella choirs. With centuries of tradition behind them, it’s a hard accolade to uphold, but one that’s hard to deny.

Arts Birmingham

Stile Antico is one of the finest vocal ensembles in today's concert scene and the voices blend as one... If you know this group, you will not be disappointed. If you do not, you must hear a remarkable singing ensemble.

Fanfare

Stile Antico excel in everything they sing

New York Times

Selected Discography —

A Spanish Nativity

It’s impossible to resist anything by British early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico. The singers instil good-natured levity into this musical surprise.

Winnipeg Free Press

In a Strange Land

The dozen voices of Stile Antico give achingly expressive performances of Elizabethan masterpieces.

Sunday Times

Tenebrae Responsories

Stile Antico was made to sing this music.

Karen Cook, Early Music America

Divine Theatre

This selection of motets, mostly for five or six voices, is unexpectedly rich in imagination, variety, and often sheer joyful energy, and the performances boast a high-quality technical brilliance.

Financial Times

A Wondrous Mystery

You won’t hear finer singing anywhere; and the Praetorius and Handl pieces will guarantee you’ll return to this disc more often than just for the holidays.

Classics Today

Sing with the Voice of Melody

This compilation disc is an ideal introduction to their work: both to their refreshing approach to programming and to the refined but vigorous quality of their sound.

Fiona Maddocks, the Guardian

From the Imperial Court

Stile Antico reinforce their already formidable reputation: intonation and balance are always flawless; the sound of the voices is glorious, precise and absolutely crystal clear

David Fallows, Gramophone

The Phoenix Rising

Stile Antico gives a pitch-perfect performance of the most ravishing works of Tudor polyphony.

Andrew Stewart, Sinfini Music

Passion & Resurrection

This program and the first-rate performances should not be missed by anyone who loves Renaissance choral music. Highly recommended.

David Vernier, Classics Today

Tune Thy Musicke

The beautifully blended voices of Stile Antico give this music with all the intensity that its emotional content merits

Stephen Pettitt, Sunday Times

Puer Natus Est

Stile Antico brings delicious balance and otherworldly beauty to this recording of music

The New York Times
See full discography

Related Media —

Dowland 'Lachrimae Coactae' ('Flow, my tears')

Stile Antico sing John Dowland's 'Lacrimae Coactae', a variation on the composer's 'Lachrimae pavan' theme which was later reworked into the song 'Flow, my tears'. This was filmed in an exclusive session for Classic FM at London's Wigmore Hall. View on YouTube

Songs of Exile and Longing

'Songs of Longing and Exile' - a new concert programme devised by Stile Antico. Inspired by Dowland's melancholic song Flow my Tears, and the heartbreaking stories of refugees which are never far from the news, vocal ensemble Stile Antico and Dartington Arts commissioned poet Peter Oswald to create texts for Dowland's instrumental Lachrimae pavans. View on YouTube

Live Performance at Wigmore Hall

Arise, My Love: Sensuous Renaissance settings of the Song of Songs The erotic poetry of the biblical Song of Solomon consistently inspired the masters of the Renaissance to some of their most ardent music. Love, desire and seduction are here explored in a rich selection of motets by composers from the Low Countries to the Mediterranean, tracing an expressive arch from the heat and intensity of Gombert and Lassus to the vivacious, polychoral conclusion in the works of Vivanco and Praetorius. View on YouTube

In a Strange Land Preview

Stile Antico's latest recording 'In a Strange Land' is released in January 2019. Here's soprano Kate Ashby introducing the concept behind the disc, along with footage from the recording sessions at All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London in February 2018, including music by Dowland, Byrd and Huw Watkins. View on YouTube

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