Theatre of Voices was founded by Paul Hillier in
1990 and is widely recognized as one of Europe's foremost vocal groups.
Current projects include music ranging from Perotin to Dowland, and
many of today's most eminent composers such as Berio, Pärt, Reich,
Cage, and Stockhausen.
During 2007 members of the group performed John Adams's Grand Pianola Music in Los Angeles, conducted by the composer; they also premiered a new John Cage event - John Cage and the Music of Always - at the Stimmen Festival in Germany; and in Australia performed the premiere of Pärt's Passio
with special film by Paolo Cherchi-Usai (European premiere in
Copenhagen in September with Ars Nova). In August the group gave two
concerts at the Edinburgh Festival, and in October they premiered a new
work by David Lang, The Little Match Girl Passion, at NewYork's Carnegie Hal - the program also included Berio's A-Ronne.
In November they appeared with Steve Reich and Musicians in Normandy's
Festival d'Automne, performing Reich, Pärt, Perotin and the European
premiere of Lang's Little Match Girl Passion, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. The work has been recorded for Harmonia Mundi and was released last May.
2008 included the opening of Berliner Festspiele with Stockhausen's Stimmung
- at the composer's own request - and at the BBC Proms and the Sacrum
Profanum Festival in Poland. 2009 includes tours in Australia, France,
UK, Sweden and Mexico.
In May 2009 the ensemble presented a new
production by Chinese composer Liu Sola at the Barbican Centre and
Takkelloftet at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen - The Afterlife of Li Jiantong.
The group's most recent CDs include Cries of London (English renaissance music), Stockhausen's Stimmung (the Copenhagen version) and David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion.