Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), award-winning choir Tenebrae is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its core values of passion and precision. Founded by Nigel Short in 2001, the choir is famed for its highly-acclaimed interpretations of choral music ranging from the Renaissance to the present day. Tenebrae’s busy concert schedule attracts a live audience of c.24,000 people at performances throughout the UK and abroad each year, including some of the world’s most prestigious venues such as the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Sydney Festival. In recent years its digital profile has grown significantly, with its most popular video (Allegri’s Miserere) having now been viewed over 21 million times. Alongside its concert work, the choir runs a thriving choral development programme, collaborating with its education partners, London Youth Choirs and Music Centres London. It has recently launched a major new strand of outreach work, working directly in primary schools in its local borough of Ealing.
“Unaccompanied choral singing comes no better than this: in blend, accuracy, precision, commitment.” - The Guardian
Tenebrae performs around 60 concerts each year in major concert venues and festivals around the world. The choir's repertoire is predominantly classical, encompassing over 500 years of choral music. The group is passionate about championing new music and regularly commissions new work, having previously commissioned Judith Bingham, Joanna Marsh, Owain Park, Josephine Stephenson, Joby Talbot and Roderick Williams among many more. Tenebrae has made 37 recordings to date, and has twice secured the BBC Music Magazine Award for 'Best Choral Performance'. In 2018 it received a Grammy nomination for its album 'Music of the Spheres'.
Alongside its performance and recording work, the choir works with hundreds of children, young people and amateur singers each year through its Learning & Connection programme. Since 2016 it has collaborated closely with education partners London Youth Choirs and Music Centre London to support the work they do, and earlier this year it launched a major new pilot project at a local primary school. From September 2022 this new programme, Singing Schools, will begin to roll out to further schools in Ealing.
Over the past few years the choir's online presence has grown significantly, with YouTube subscribers now numbering almost 100,000 and 49,000 Facebook followers. Its high-quality film content has enabled it to reach a global audience, engaging millions of viewers all over the world.
