Meet Apollo5
Critically acclaimed a cappella five-piece Apollo5 is one of Britain’s smallest but most formidable vocal groups. Comprising a soprano, mezzo-soprano, two tenors and a bass, the ensemble – which takes its name from the ancient Greek god of music – has become known for its rich, dynamic sound, demonstrating how powerful five voices alone can be. With a versatile approach to music programming, and a repertoire spanning renaissance, classical and contemporary choral works to folk, jazz and pop, the group’s five voices bring the music of five centuries to life.
“★★★★★ – everything here is faultless, from the perfectly balanced pace and imaginative choice of repertoire to Apollo5’s exceptional cohesion and effortless style”
During its 13-year career, Apollo5 has delivered an ambitious education programme and accumulated a busy touring schedule that has taken the group to many European countries, the USA and Asia. In addition to performing at prestigious UK venues such as the Barbican Centre, the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena, St John’s Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields, the group has toured extensively across Belgium, Germany and France. 2023/24 highlights include two tours to the USA, performances in Portugal with The Cascais & Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, and debuts at The Philharmonie Luxembourg and London’s Wigmore Hall.
“Hugely impressive ”
The group is signed to Voces8 Records and has released a number of critically acclaimed albums under this label. Two recent studio albums, Where All Roses Go and O Radiant Dawn, charted in the top 5 of the UK Classical Charts, whilst collaborative studio album The Spirit Like A Dove (with the Ingenium Ensemble) and winter disc A Deep But Dazzling Darkness charted in the top 10 of the UK Classical Charts. Other albums include Renewal? and Reflections, both collaborations with Voces8 and with music by its co-founder Paul Smith, jazz and pop album With A Song In My Heart, and recent album Invocations, a piano-accompanied treasury of favourite songs recorded with composer and arranger Fraser Wilson. During the pandemic, Apollo5 were part of the launch of LIVE From London, a series of live broadcasts from many of the world’s leading vocal ensembles and orchestras. These online concerts brought music to the homes of millions during the pandemic, and raised funds for more than five hundred artists, composers and production teams in the process.
“Wonderful voices”
Over the course of the 2023/24 season, Apollo5 will release their sixth studio album, Haven, which explores the music and words of troubled, displaced and persecuted authors, punctuating William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices with new settings of Romantic and modern poetry, twentieth-century songs and spirituals, and responses from contemporary Ukrainian composers writing in exile. Two other forthcoming albums are also being developed: a new songbook of jazz and pop, Spellbound, and Gaelic-inspired programme ANAM.
“ Exceptionally beautiful singing ”
As part of the Voces8 Foundation, Apollo5 works alongside Voces8 and Paul Smith to deliver a transformative programme of workshops, masterclasses and concerts to over 40,000 young people annually in the UK, Europe, the USA and Asia. Much of this education work is carried out at the Foundation’s home, the Voces8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church in the heart of London. The group has also helped lead an extensive singing project in the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets, working with inner-city schools and supporting their teachers. Now in its seventh year, this project is supported by the Masonic Charitable Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Glovers, The Big Give Trust, and a number of private trusts and generous individual donors.
“★★★★★ – bristling, youthful economy”
You can download this biography here.