Chantage joined forces with fellow chamber choirs Coro and ccFREIA to host the inaugural London International Choral Conducting Competition.

During the course of the competition weekend, we worked with all six competition finalists, sang for youth conducting workshops and performed in a Gala Concert Performance.  The highlight was the Grand Final performance, during which we sang new choral composition, 'The Cries of Music' by Janet Wheeler with each competitor and witnessed the announcement of the inaugural competition winner - Julia Selina Blank from Germany,

We were delighted to perform Bach's glorious Baroque Masterpiece, the Christmas Oratorio, with the Lawes Baroque Orchestra, in the beautiful setting of St Peter's Church, Hammersmith. 

Rebecca Lea, Soprano
Eleanor Minney, Mezzo Soprano
Christopher Bowen, Tenor
Jimmy Holliday, Bass

We were thrilled to take part in the City of Derry International Choir Festival in October 2017, placing third place in the international competition.

Thanks to Lorcan Doherty for the beautiful photographs.

As part of our ongoing project to record the first album dedicated exclusively to the choral music of emerging Swedish composer Mårten Jansson, we were delighted to perform an evening of Swedish music on 2 March 2017.

We were warmly hosted by the choir of the Swedish Church in Marylebone, performing some joint pieces together including Gloria from Jansson's Missa Popularis.  

We also performed a selection of his compositions that we will be recording, including the premiere of Triptyk, a set of three spiritual songs set to texts by Kerstin Dillmar.  Thank you to everyone who came along to listen and to Mårten himself for joining us and sharing some of the stories behind his music.

We were thrilled to perform a selection of our favourite festive music at a truly unique venue this Christmas - the stunning London Museum of Water and Steam.  Our programme included:​

• O Magnum Mysterium, Francis Poulenc
• Coventry Carol, arr, Francis Grier
• The Boar's Head Carol, arr. Elizabeth Poston
• Vox dicentis: Cluna, E.W Naylor

See some of the highlights below:

Back in 2014, Chantage teamed up with the Aurora Orchestra to perform the world premiere of MELD, by Benedict Mason at the BBC Proms.  Written specifically for the Royal Albert Hall, the performers used the entire space during the piece - and it was filmed with multiple cameras positioned around the hall.

Released this week, and available online until 4 July 2016, you can view the complete performance here:

Chantage gave the UK premiere of Mårten Jansson’s 'Missa Popularis' in celebration of the Patronal Festival for St Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, on Sunday 21 May 2016.

Joined by a string ensemble made up of members of the Orchestra of the City, Chantage was honoured by the presence of the composer at the special performance.

Over the last four and a half centuries, William Shakespeare’s work has inspired poets, artists and composers across the globe.

In commemoration of his death in 1616, Chantage showcased settings to music of Shakespeare’s haunting and poignant poetry at St James' Piccadilly..  The concert featured, amongst other works, the Songs of Ariel by Swiss composer Frank Martin, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Three Shakespeare Songs and Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s Four Shakespeare Songs.

Chantage was joined by Slingshot Theatre, performing scenes from Shakespeare's plays. 

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Miranda is a character in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, first performed around 1611. The play features a song by the character Ariel; this passage has been set to music many times and Chantage will be singing some of those settings. It is more commonly known as ‘Full Fathom Five.
 
“Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes;

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change
 into something rich and strange.
 Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: 
Ding-dong.

Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell”
 from ‘Ariel’s song’ The Tempest Act 1, Scene ii
​

Chantage enjoyed tremendous success at the Malta International Choir Festival 2015, winning both secular and sacred trophies, a special award for best choreographed performance, the highest score of 96% of the Festival and the overall Grand Prix of Malta. ​