‘Joy & Devotion’ 2024: The Artists

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‘Joy & Devotion’, London’s celebrated annual festival of Polish sacred music, returns for its fourth (extended) edition in November 2024.

For the first time, the 2024 festival takes place in the exquisite setting of St James’s Piccadilly – the sonorous 17th-century church designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and well known as an important venue for high-quality classical music. This year the festival expands to include four choirs – SANSARA, The Choir of King’s College London, Holst Singers and The Sixteen – all making their festival debuts. Also for the first time, the festival includes a public lecture about contemporary Polish sacred music at King’s College London [8 Nov]. The eminent Polish composerPaweł Łukaszewski(b. 1968) continues as Artistic Director, and Rupert Jeffcoat returns as resident organist.

SANSARA

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SANSARA, photo: Matthew Johnson

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SANSARA is a collective of professional singers, composers, and creatives from across the UK creating transformational choral experiences. Choirs are living, breathing instruments fuelled by the primal force of the human voice and its power to move, challenge, console – to transform hearts and minds. Inspired by this belief, we share choral music we love to create spaces for reflection and renewal - whatever that means for you - from intimate a cappella performances to immersive vocal soundscapes.

Our name echoes the ancient Sanskrit word ‘samsara’ – the transformational experience of moving through life’s cycles. The cycles of modern life can be overwhelming. Despite our digital connections, feelings of loneliness and social isolation are on the rise. Our work is rooted in the unique potential of choral music to enhance the mental and physical wellbeing of audiences and singers.

We engage with the complex, messy issues of our time. Whether commissioning new music that brings refugee communities together, making a podcast about love and resistance, or using ensemble singing to support the journey through loss, we believe choral music can speak directly to those seeking creative responses to the challenges of today.

We are collaborative, experimental and forward-looking. Recent collaborations include projects with ensembles Manchester Collective, Fretwork, United Strings of Europe; composers Natalia Tsupryk, Piers Connor Kennedy, Rebecca Dale, Jasmin Kent Rodgman, Nico Muhly, Marco Galvani; and instrumentalists Basel Saleh, Julian Azkoul, Liam Byrne and Ruth Gibson.

Winners of the London International A Cappella Choir Competition, our performance highlights include concerts at the Southbank Centre, Barbican, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall, V&A, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Erholungshaus (Germany) and De Singel (Belgium).

Releases include My North, a commission by Rebecca Dale which was premiered at a commemorative event at the National Covid Memorial Wall, and A Quiet Night - Tyhoyi Nochi by Ukrainian composer Natalia Tsupryk, commissioned for Ukrainian Independence Day in August 2022. SANSARA’s recordings have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, Scala Radio, ABC and NPO Klassiek, and Traces (2023) was listed as Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice.

The choir’s latest album in the midst was released in September 2024 and will be presented live at the Barbican’s Milton Court on Saturday 14 December.

Ellie Slorach

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Ellie Slorach

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Ellie Slorach is the Founder and Artistic Director of Kantos Chamber Choir and the Engagement Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She specialises in large scale multi-media and educational projects across all genres including orchestral, operatic, choral and dance.

In the 2023-24 season, Ellie makes her debut with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at The Glasshouse as part of the BBC Proms in Gateshead, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures production of Edward Scissorhands at Sadler’s Wells and with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She also returns to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Singers, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North and Manchester Camerata.

Specialising in concerts for schools and young people, Ellie has worked with orchestras including The Hallé and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, where she was the Assistant Conductor to Gergely Madaras in 2021-22. She is often invited to work with youth and student orchestras and choirs, including having been Musical Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra.

Ellie regularly works on opera productions; she conducted Northern Opera Group’s production of Handel’s Silla in 2022 and returns as Musical Director for their headline production of Sherlock Holmes and The Sign of Four in 2024 at the Leeds Opera Festival. She was co-Musical Director for the Royal Opera House’s production of Lost & Found at St Pancras International station in 2022 and was the Assistant Conductor for Opera Holland Park’s Rigoletto in June 2023.

In 2015, Ellie founded Kantos Chamber Choir; this trailblazing vocal ensemble is at the cutting edge of choral singing in the UK. Kantos performs unique and innovative concerts, devised by Ellie, to sell-out audiences, in venues ranging from nightclubs to concert halls. Kantos has an artistic partnership with Manchester Camerata.

Ellie studied Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music; she was awarded Associate Membership (ARNCM) in 2023. She previously studied Music at the University of Manchester.

The Holst Singers

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Holst Singers, photo: David Hinitt

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The Holst Singers is one of Britain’s foremost choirs, described by the BBC as 'a leading chorus on the international stage'. Founded in 1978 and directed by Stephen Layton since 1993, the choir has developed an interest in exploring new and neglected works as well as core repertoire. The choir is renowned for dramatic and engaging performances, described by The Times as 'nteractive concert-going at its most revelatory'.

The choir has recorded a number CDs with Stephen Layton on the Hyperion label, including Ikon and Ikon II, which helped to introduce UK listeners to the music of the Russian Orthodox Church, and John Taverner’s The Veil of the Temple, alongside works by Holst, Vaughan Williams and Britten.

Eamonn Dougan

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Eamonn Dougan

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Eamonn Dougan is an inspirational communicator with a wide-ranging repertoire and is a renowned vocal coach and baritone. Eamonn is Associate Conductor of The Sixteen, founding Director of Britten Sinfonia Voices, Music Director of the Thomas Tallis Society, and Chief Conductor for Jersey Chamber Orchestra.

Alongside Eamonn’s regular conducting, upcoming projects include returns to conduct MacMillan’s All the Hills and Vales Along for the Cumnock Tryst’s tenth anniversary Birthday Gala Concert, a return to Chamber Choir Ireland in addition to his directorship of CCI’s training programme ‘CCI Studio’, Ars Nova Copenhagen, continuing his series with Jersey Chamber Orchestra and recording with De Profundis on Hyperion for the 4th Morales disc in the series. Eamonn will also lead a new programme for ‘The Song Company’ on its May/June ’25 Australian tour. In addition, he will make his debut conducting Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus in Handel Messiah at Royal Festival Hall in December, and he makes his debut conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the start of season 25-26.

Eamonn Dougan is managed worldwide by Percius. www.percius.co.uk

The Sixteen

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The Sixteen, photo: Johnny Millar

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Whether performing a simple medieval hymn or expressing the complex musical and emotional language of a contemporary choral composition, The Sixteen does so with qualities common to all great ensembles. Tonal warmth, rhythmic precision and immaculate intonation are clearly essential to the mix. But it is the courage and intensity with which The Sixteen makes music that speak above all to so many people.

Celebrating its 45^th anniversary this year The Sixteen gave its first concert in 1979 under the direction of Founder and Conductor Harry Christophers CBE. Their pioneering work since has made a profound impact on the performance of choral music and attracted a large new audience, not least as ‘The Voices of Classic FM’ and through BBC television’s Sacred Music series.

The voices and period-instrument players of The Sixteen are at home in over five centuries of music, a breadth reflected in their annual Choral Pilgrimage to Britain’s great cathedrals and sacred spaces, regular appearances at the world’s leading concert halls, and award-winning recordings for The Sixteen’s CORO and other labels.

Recent highlights include the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Stabat mater (at the Barbican in 2016 and live streamed from the Sistine Chapel in 2018), and his Fifth Symphony ‘Le grand inconnu’ (2019 Edinburgh International Festival and the Lincoln Centre, New York), both commissioned for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen by the Genesis Foundation, an ambitious ongoing series of Handel oratorios, extensive tours of the USA and The Netherlands, and a new, specially-commissioned series of programmes presented by Sir Simon Russell Beale entitled A Choral Odyssey.

The Choir of King’s College London

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The Choir of King’s College London, photo: Nick Rutter

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The Choir of King’s College London is one of the leading university choirs in England, and has existed since its founding by William Henry Monk in the middle of the 19th century. The Choir today consists of some thirty Choral Scholars reading a variety of subjects. The Choir’s principal role at King’s is to provide music for Chapel worship, with weekly Eucharist and Evensong services offered during term, as well as various other services. Services from the College Chapel are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio. The Choir also frequently sings for worship outside the university, including at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

In addition, the Choir gives many concert performances. Recent festival appearances in England include the Barnes Music Festival, London Handel Festival, Oundle International Festival, St Albans International Organ Festival, Spitalfields Festival, and the Christmas and Holy Week Festivals at St. John’s Smith Square. In 2017 the Choir joined forces with Britten Sinfonia to give the UK premiere of Samuel Barber’s The Lovers (Chamber Version) at Kings Place, the performance described in The Times as ‘sung beautifully, the voices judiciously blended’. The Choir tours widely, with destinations including Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Nigeria and the USA. In 2017 it served as Choir-In-Residence for the northeast convention of American Guild of Organists and Royal Canadian College of Organists in Montreal.

The Choir has made many recordings, and enjoys an ongoing relationship with Delphian Records. Recordings include the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms in its 1872 English-language setting, praised as ‘utterly uplifting’ (Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale), ‘an intimate, highly charged performance’ (Stephen Pritchard, The Observer), and the Masses for Double Choir by Kenneth Leighton and Frank Martin, described as ‘a performance of astonishing intensity and musicality’ (Marc Rochester, Gramophone), and ‘a colourful performance . . . Joseph Fort’s superbly drilled Choir of King’s College London singing with shedloads of oomph’ (Graham Rickson, theartsdesk.com). More recent releases include Gustav Holst’s The Cloud Messenger in a new chamber version by Joseph Fort, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Partsongs, and albums of new works by Lliam Paterson, Edward Nesbit and Kerensa Briggs.

Following some twenty years under the leadership of David Trendell, the Choir has been directed by Dr Joseph Fort since 2015.

Joseph Fort

Joseph Fort is College Organist & Director of the Chapel Choir, and Senior Lecturer in Music at King’s College London, where he directs the Choir of King’s College London in the Chapel services, broadcasts, recordings, concerts and international tours.

The Choir’s performances under his direction have been recognised as ‘English choral singing at its best’ (Choir & Organ) and ‘a performance of astonishing intensity and musicality’ (Gramophone). Recent orchestral conducting includes performances with Britten Sinfonia, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Hanover Band and the London Mozart Players.

Festival conducting appearances across the world include the Festival de México, the White Nights Festival of St. Petersburg, the Montreal Organ Festival, the London Handel Festival, the St Albans International Organ Festival, and the conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

Joseph is known for his innovative and creative programming, and his track record of eclectic commissions ranges from new Canticle settings to large-scale works for choir and electric guitar. His expansive discography with Delphian Records has received considerable critical acclaim, including Editor’s Choice and the ‘best new classical albums’ selections in Gramophone. 2023 saw three new releases—Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, to mark the composer’s 150th anniversary, the premiere recording of Kerensa Briggs’s new Requiem, and a complete disc of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s partsongs, many of which were previously unpublished and unrecorded. He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3, and conducts the annual King’s Foundation Carol Concert for Classic FM.

Joseph is also known for his expertise as an arranger and editor, and his chamber arrangement of The Cloud Messenger by Gustav Holst is credited with causing a recent resurgence of performances of that work, both in the UK and overseas. He will conduct the English Chamber Orchestra in the premiere of his new arrangement of The Choral Symphony as part of the #Holst150 celebrations in 2024.

Joseph holds a PhD from Harvard University, and his academic research focuses on eighteenth-century music and dance. His monograph Haydn’s Minuets and Eighteenth-Century Dance will be published by Cambridge University Press in late 2024. He has published in the Eighteenth-Century Music and Die Tonkunst journals, and has chapters in books with Cambridge University Press and Leipzig University Press. Prior to Harvard, he studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was the organ scholar, and at the Royal Academy of Music, who in 2017 elected him to their Associateship. In 2021 he was also appointed Director of Music at St Paul’s, Knightsbridge, where he conducts the acclaimed professional choir.

Stephen Layton – Conductor

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Stephen Layton, photo: Keith Saunders

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Awarded with an MBE for services to classical music in October 2020, Stephen Layton is one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. Often described as the finest exponent of choral music in the world today, his ground-breaking approach has had a profound influence on choral music over the last 30 years. Taking up the post of Principal Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir from the 2024/25 season, Layton is also Founder and Director of Polyphony, and Director of Holst Singers. Layton recently stepped down as Fellow and Director of Music at Trinity College Cambridge - a post he held for 17 years, changing the nature of a ‘college choir’ into a leading artistic professional beacon on the world stage. His other former posts include Chief Conductor of Netherlands Chamber Choir, Chief Guest Conductor of Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of City of London Sinfonia, and Director of Music at the Temple Church, London.

Layton is regularly invited to work with the world’s leading choirs, orchestras and composers. His interpretations have been heard from Sydney Opera House to the Concertgebouw, from Tallinn to São Paolo, and his recordings have won or been nominated for every major international recording award. He has two Gramophone Awards (and a further ten nominations), five Grammy nominations, the Diapason d’Or de l’Année in France, the Echo Klassik award in Germany, the Spanish CD compact award, and Australia’s Limelight Recording of the Year.

‘Joy & Devotion’ 2024: Programme

Language English