Three world premieres, the 25th anniversary of The Choral Pilgrimage, and two significant composer anniversaries form the backbone of The Sixteen's 2025 programming.
• World Premieres: Three world premieres by Lucy Walker, Millicent B James and Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade explore angels as divine signs in a spiritual dimension in concerts in London and Cumnock. A new commission for Choir and Violin by Anna Clyne will be toured as part of the annual Choral Pilgrimage.
• Palestrina & Pärt: The Sixteen celebrates Palestrina’s 500th and Pärt’s 90th anniversaries with performances of their works, including a concert series dedicated solely to Palestrina in association with Wigmore Hall, and works by Pärt featuring as part of the Choral Pilgrimage repertoire.
• Debut at Tanglewood: The Sixteen will make its Tanglewood debut, conducted by Harry Christophers, for a rendition of the critically acclaimed programme A Deer’s Cry, featuring works by William Bryd and Arvo Pärt.
• Tour to Japan: For the fifth time in its 45-year history, The Sixteen will travel to Japan on tour to Tokyo, Kanagawa, Kyoto and Fukuoka.
• Sounds Sublime: The Sounds Sublime Choral Festival at St James’s Piccadilly investigates the abilities of the human voice, with workshops for 0-18s and special family events. The festival also celebrates performances from youth voices and Genesis Sixteen.
In its 2025 programming, The Sixteen honours the timeless connection between words and music, how the divine and heavenly can be evoked through choral compositions. This year, The Sixteen will give the world premiere of works by Anna Clyne, Lucy Walker, Millicent B James and Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, in addition to championing the divine beauty of works by Giovanni Palestrina and Arvo Pärt in their anniversary years. Expanding its international offering, The Sixteen will tour to Japan at the end of the year, in addition to giving its debut performance at Tanglewood. This season’s programming will also see the return of The Sixteen’s annual festival to inspire the next generation – Sounds Sublime – which returns to St James’s Piccadilly this Summer.
Looking ahead to Palestrina 500, and The Sixteen’s 2025 programming, founder and conductor of The Sixteen Harry Christophers, says:
‘I have always regarded Palestrina as the master craftsman whose music composers of all ages have attempted to emulate. He shapes his music in a beautifully sonorous way using many suspensions but always coming back into the line of the music. However, it is this perfect craftsmanship that can sometimes make Palestrina’s music sound all too perfect and occasionally academic. We have attempted to achieve real ebb and flow in his music, not clipping the ends of phrases but allowing the music to breathe, to convey the real meaning of the words and making our breaths part of the music as a whole. There is a wealth of word painting in which to indulge especially in his Song of Songs motets. Our aim has been to be sensitive to this wonderful poetry and inject an energy and beauty into our performances that I hope goes some way to honour Palestrina as the celebrated light of music.’
Visit the ‘What’s On‘ section for a full list of performances