Joshua Goines: I’m beyond pleased to be interviewing one of the world’s leading a cappella ensembles, VOCES8. This interview was particularly interesting for me because I’m a conductor/singer who loves all types of choral music and because I have been privileged to hear VOCES8 in a live performance that was simply stunning. Thank you so much for taking time out to share with us.
With all of the professional choirs and ensembles in existence, what made you decide to start VOCES8 and what is your goal as an ensemble? How do you choose which projects to take on and how do you balance new music versus telling familiar stories in new, engaging ways?
VOCES8: It started as a group of friends who loved singing together, but quickly grew into a place where we knew we could offer something brilliant and different to what else was out there. The goals and approach have evolved and developed over time and that’s partly the success of it. The VOCES8 Foundation has grown up alongside VOCES8 since the very beginning, with education and outreach always presents as an important aspect of our work. Choosing which projects to take on can be a bit of a balancing act between what we as artists may choose and our musical inspiration, and then putting our business hats on too, discussing possibilities with agents and managers. We see it as a responsibility as artists to provide a platform for new music, and putting that alongside familiar or older repertoire provides great context and perspective. Variety has also always been an important aspect of our performance. Even if we perform the same program several nights in a row the music feels different because of surroundings, acoustics, and the experiences that you and members of the audience have had that day which all contribute to a unique atmosphere in the room.
Joshua Goines: VOCES8 has grown in popularity since its beginning days and has risen to the level of an international ensemble that reaches audiences all over the globe. What do you attribute to your current success?
VOCES8: Of course, there are always aspects of ‘being in the right place at the right time’, but there’s a lot of truth in making your own luck. We were fortunate early on in the ensemble’s life, to have had members who were willing to dedicate their time to trying to make it a full-time professional group, and that takes a lot of sacrifice. So, commitment is high on the list, as is continued hard work from both the ensemble, and the managers, agents and educators behind the scenes.
Joshua Goines: Because of your popularity, it seems you have an active touring schedule. What is it like to tour as a group? What are your touring likes and dislikes? Is there a collective favorite destination that you’ve traveled to?
VOCES8: Touring is something we’ve really missed over the last 18months! The ensemble becomes your family and friends while you’re on the road, with all the ups and downs that come with it. Food is a big part of tour life, with much of our social time spent seeking out the best brunch or coffee in town, with others heading to check out local galleries or museums if there’s time. The hardest tours are ones where we’re moving somewhere different every day without much time to appreciate where we are, and people start to miss home. That’s when it’s important to remember how much we can support and look after each other. Collectively, Japan is one of our favorite destinations – great food, always brilliantly organized, beautiful scenery, vibrant cities, and a huge amount of history and culture to soak in.
Joshua Goines: How much rehearsal time, both individually and collectively, does it take to become what the audience sees as VOCES8? Is there one person conducting rehearsals that generally shapes what you do, or is it a group effort to make artistic choices?
VOCES8: We try to function as a democracy as far as possible, but we all know that takes time! If we need some extra steering, or simply don’t have the time then Barney takes a lead as the Artistic Director. We expect to turn up to the first group rehearsal on a piece knowing our own notes already, and from that we would roughly spend 1 hour per minute of music rehearsing if it’s a classical choral piece, and probably double that for the jazz, pop or contemporary repertoire, as the extended harmony takes longer to balance. So, something like Rachmaninov’s ‘Bogoroditse Dyevo’ might have 4 hours rehearsal before it hits the stage, whereas ‘Me and My Shadow’ might be more like 10 hours work.
Joshua Goines: Obviously, the Covid-19 shutdown changed the way that many artists work and relate to their audience because we weren’t able to meet in person. What sorts of things did VOCES8 do during the shutdown?
VOCES8: We certainly stayed busy. In March 2020 when the first lockdown began, we started ‘Live From Home’, which involved one or more of us presenting something every day, often participatory but also including lectures on notation, intonation and a cappella. We did about 100 of those before we then turned our minds to launching ‘LIVE From London’ in August 2020; an online music festival, which we produced and streamed from the VOCES8 Centre in London. We’re now on our fourth festival, and have welcomed over 400 artists to the LIVE From London stage, including The King’s Singers, Chineke! Orchestra, Stile Antico, Emma Kirkby, Roderick Williams, Gabrieli Consort & Players, and loads more. Somewhere in the midst of all that we found time to record a new album too!
Joshua Goines: Speaking of the Covid-19 shutdown, many of us found small joys in learning new skills and developing new hobbies (or coming back to old hobbies). I, personally, found myself in the kitchen a lot more and used my creativity there. Outside of VOCES8, did any of you pick up new hobbies or learned skills? Many artists dove into virtual projects, was that something you decided to do and is it something that was enjoyable?
VOCES8: Several people in the group also found joy in the kitchen and even recorded a few ‘VocesAte Cookbook’ recipes! Katie and Chris both started gardening a lot more and growing vegetables, Blake found a little more time for songwriting, and Barney trumped us all by becoming a father for the first time.
Joshua Goines: What advice to you have for young, aspiring singers who may want to join an ensemble like VOCES8 someday? What does it take to do what you do?
VOCES8: As with most artistic aspirations it takes commitment, hard work, and toughing out the times when it doesn’t go as well as you’d hoped. Say yes to as many opportunities as you can, talk to people, and really importantly just be nice! Being an approachable person who is kind and nice to work with goes a long way.
Joshua Goines: You have a new album coming out soon, what can we expect to see from that project? Was this something that came out of Covid-19 or was it in the works before the shutdown?
VOCES8: ‘Infinity’ will be our fifth album released on Decca Classics, and is a celestial collection of both brand new commissions, and arrangements or re-imaginings of existing music, much of it by electronic composers or those you might find writing for gaming and film soundtracks. It was certainly in the pipeline before the pandemic, but I don’t think anyone who’s created something artistic in the last 18+ months can fail to have been influenced in some way by that experience.
Purchase Infinity Now
Joshua Goines: Now that things are opening up and everyone’s schedules are starting to fill up, are you looking forward to doing more live performances or do you prefer to do recording projects? What can we expect to see in future from VOCES8?
VOCES8: We’re certainly looking forward to going back to more live performances and touring again – there’s nothing quite like the atmosphere created during a live concert, and the feeling of making music in the moment. But of course, we enjoy the recording aspect too, and it’s allowed us to reach a huge number of people across the world who might otherwise not get to see VOCES8 perform at all, so LIVE From London will continue along with recording albums, digital content, outreach work and our touring schedule!
Joshua Goines: Thank you, again, for taking time to share with us. I can’t wait to check out the Infinity project and see you all live in concert again soon!
