The Sixteen

The Sixteen (previously known as the Symphony of Harmony and Invention) are a British choir and period instrument orchestra. Founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979.

The group performs early English polyphony, works of the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical music, and a diversity of 20th- and 21st-century music.

The Sixteen are "The Voices of Classic FM", TV media partner with Sky Arts and associate artists of the Southbank Centre in London and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The group promotes an annual series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as well as the Choral Pilgrimage, a tour of Britain's finest cathedrals: bringing music back to the buildings for which it was written. The BBC television series Sacred Music was produced in collaboration with the Sixteen; between 2008 and 2015, two full series aired along with numerous specials.

The Sixteen are a registered charity under English law.

Tours

The Sixteen tour throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas and have given regular performances at major concert halls and festivals worldwide, including the Barbican Centre in London, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Sydney Opera House, Tokyo Opera City and the Vienna Musikverein. They have also performed at the BBC Proms and the festivals of Granada, Lucerne, Istanbul, Prague and Salzburg.. In the United Kingdom, each year since 2000 (excepting pandemic years) they have toured a selection of UK cathedrals and other venues with a tour entitled "The Choral Pilgrimage".

In addition, the Sixteen's period orchestra have taken part in semi-staged performances of Purcell's Fairy Queen in Tel Aviv and London, a fully-staged production of Purcell's King Arthur in Lisbon's Centro Cultural de Belém, followed by new productions of Claudio Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at the Lisbon Opera House and The Coronation of Poppea at the English National Opera.

Education The Sixteen have an education programme and projects have included a series of school matinées for hundreds of primary school children in Bury St Edmunds, Liverpool and Southwell under the national Sing Up initiative. The Sixteen also have close ties with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity College of Music, offering opportunities for young people about to embark on careers as professional musicians.

The group leads a training programme for 18–23 year olds, Genesis Sixteen, which aims to nurture the next generation of young singers through an annual series of vocal courses, mentoring and masterclasses.

Discography Over 90 recordings reflect the Sixteen's range of work, spanning the music of 500 years and winning many awards including the Grand Prix du Disque, numerous Schallplattenkritik, a Gramophone Award (Early Music, 1992), the Classical Brit Award in 2005 for Renaissance and IKON, which was nominated for a Grammy Award and two Classical Brits. These latter two discs were recorded as part of the group's contract with Universal Classics and Jazz.

Since 2001, the Sixteen have had their own record label, CORO, which has released over 90 titles to date. More recent recordings include Handel's oratorio Messiah, with soloists Carolyn Sampson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore and Christopher Purves (winner of a MIDEM Classical Award 2009), Dixit Dominus featuring Handel's eponymous early work and Steffani's Stabat Mater, Ceremony and Devotion: Music for the Tudors, which accompanied the 2010 Choral Pilgrimage, and Hail, Mother of the Redeemer which accompanied the 2011 Choral Pilgrimage.

+A selection of recordings by The Sixteen Year Album Label Detail 1985 Handel: The Messiah Erato With the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman 1987 Christmas Music from Medieval and Renaissance Europe Hyperion Conductor: Harry Christophers 1990 The Rose and The Ostrich Feather: Eton Choirbook Volume 1 CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 1993 The Flower of all Virginity: Eton Choirbook Volume IV CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 1995 Esther (1718 version) CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2006 Philip & Mary: A Marriage of England & Spain CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2007 A Mother’s Love - Music for Mary Universal Classics Conductor: Harry Christophers 2009 Sounds Sublime CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2011 James MacMillan: Miserere CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2012 The Earth Resounds Classic FM Conductors: Harry Christophers, Eamonn Dougan 2012 Selva Morale e Spirituale Vol II: Monteverdi CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2012 Allegri: Miserere Classic FM Conductor: Harry Christophers 2012 Pärt: De Profundis Decca With Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh 2013 Bartlomiej Pekiel CORO Conductor: Eamonn Dougan 2014 The Blossoming Vine: Italian Maestri in Poland CORO Conductor: Eamonn Dougan 2015 Flight of the Angels CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2016 Helper and Protector: Italian Maestri in Poland CORO Conductor: Eamonn Dougan 2017 Marcin Mielczewski CORO Conductor: Eamonn Dougan 2017 James MacMillan: Stabat Mater CORO With Britten Sinfonia 2021 Good Night, Beloved CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2022 An Old Belief CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2022 Byrd: Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets (1611) CORO With Fretwork 2022 A Meditation CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2023 Sirens’ Song CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2023 Coronation: Music for Royal Occasions CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers 2023 A Watchful Gaze CORO Conductor: Harry Christophers

The Sixteen

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