Ravinia 2025 Issue 5

MARTIN THEATRE 7:30 PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2025 VOCES8 † ANDREA HAINES, soprano BLAKE MORGAN, tenor ELEONORA POIGNANT, soprano EUAN WILLIAMSON, tenor KATIE JEFFRIES-HARRIS, alto CHRISTOPHER MOORE, baritone BARNABY SMITH, alto and artistic director DOMINIC CARVER, bass VOCES8: TheFirst 20Years ORLANDO GIBBONS O Clap Your Hands SERGE RACHMANINOFF “Bogoroditse Devo” from All-Night Vigil , op. 37 ARVO PÄRT The Deer’s Cry * NAT “KING” COLE “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (arr. Jim Clements) OTIS BLACKWELL “Fever” (arr. Jim Clements) LUCY WALKER Give Me Your Stars * CAROLINE SHAW and the swallow * arr. JOHN CAMERON Lux Aeterna after EDWARD ELGAR based on “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations , op. 36 –Intermission– JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH “Bourrée” from Suite in A minor, BWV 807 (arr. Ward Swingle) THOMAS WEELKES As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending ORLANDE DE LASSUS Dessus le Marché d’Arras * KATE RUSBY “Underneath the Stars” (arr. Jim Clements) TRADITIONAL “Danny Boy” (arr. Joshua Pacey) VERNON DUKE “April in Paris” (arr. Jim Clements) IRVING BERLIN “Cheek to Cheek” (arr. Jim Clements) JOHN KANDER & FRED EBB “New York, New York” (arr. Alexander L’Estrange) † Ravinia debut * First performance at Ravinia VOCES8 The 2023 Grammy-nominated British vocal en- semble VOCES8 inspires people through music and shares the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading musicians, orchestras, and con- ductors. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensem- ble’s performance and education ethos, which is shared both online and in person. They are the world’s top-streaming classical vocal group. VOCES8 has performed at many notable ven- ues since the group’s inception in 2005, includ- ing Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Paris’s Cité de la Mu- sique, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA Beijing, Sydney Opera House, Mariin- sky Theatre Concert Hall, Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall, and Mexico City’s Palacio de Bel- las Artes, among many others. For the ensem- ble’s 20th anniversary, VOCES8 is performing over 100 concerts around the world, including a birthday celebration concert at the Barbican in London. The COVID-19 pandemic provid- ed the impetus for two continuing initiatives: the VOCES8 Digital Academy, an online cho- ral program, and the digital festival Live from London, which has broadcast over 150 con- certs with over 250,000 tickets sold. VOCES8 is a Decca Classics artist, also releasing on the VOCES8 Records label. The recording of Chris- topher Tin’s The Lost Birds was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2023. Their newest album is Twenty , a celebration of the group’s first two decades of performing. Recent releases include Nightfall , A Choral Christmas , and Home , con- ducted by Eric Whitacre, featuring his work The Sacred Veil , in addition to guesting on Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms . VOCES8 features Ken Burton as Composer-in-Residence and Jim Cle- ments as Arranger-in-Residence. The ensemble publishes arrangements of its music, original compositions, and educational material through the digital VOCES8 Publishing house as well as through E.C. Schirmer, with whom they curate the VOCES8 Foundation Choral Series, and Edition Peters, with whom they have published two anthologies and a series of single octavos. VOCES8 is making its Ravinia debut. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUG. 4 – AUG. 17, 2025 76