Exaudi Vocal Ensemble & James Weeks
Biography Exaudi Vocal Ensemble & James Weeks
EXAUDI
is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles for new music. Founded by James Weeks (director) and Juliet Fraser (soprano) in 2002, EXAUDI is based in London and draws its singers from among the UK’s brightest vocal talents.
EXAUDI’s special affinity is for the radical edges of contemporary music, at home equally with maximal complexity, microtonality and experimental aesthetics. The newest new music is at the heart of its repertoire, and it has given national and world premières of Sciarrino, Rihm, Finnissy, Frey, Posadas, Oesterle, Crane, Dusapin, Ferneyhough, Gervasoni, Skempton, Pesson, Poppe, Mažulis and Fox among many others. Through its commissioning scheme, EXAUDI is particularly committed to the music of its own generation, and is proud to champion the work of significant voices including Aaron Cassidy, Evan Johnson, Bryn Harrison, Amber Priestley, Matthew Shlomowitz, Joanna Bailie, Cassandra Miller, Andrew Hamilton, James Weeks and Claudia Molitor.
EXAUDI is also strongly involved with the emerging generation of young composers, and regularly takes part in composer development schemes and residencies such as Voix Nouvelles Royaumont, IRCAM Manifeste Academie and Snape composer residencies, as well as workshops at universities and conservatoires throughout the UK. EXAUDI has particularly strong links with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and City, University of London, where it is an Ensemble in Residence. In 2019 EXAUDI was proud to sign up to PRS Foundation's Keychange initiative, committing it to gender-balanced programming across its own-promotion concerts and commissions.
An enduring feature of EXAUDI’s programming has been the mixing of contemporary music with the music of the medieval, Renaissance and baroque periods. In 2012 the EXAUDI Italian Madrigal Book project was launched to create new repertoire to stand alongside the masterpieces of Monteverdi, Gesualdo and others; to date major cycles have been commissioned from composers such as Finnissy, Gervasoni and Fox and the project has toured to Italy, France and Luxembourg as well as extensively within the UK. In September 2019 EXAUDI released its first exclusively early music CD, a disc of Gesualdo madrigals, on the Winter&Winter label.
EXAUDI’s many international engagements include Wittener Tage, Darmstadter Ferienkurse, Musica Viva (Munich), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), IRCAM (Paris), Festival d’Automne (Paris), Voix Nouvelles (Royaumont), Pharos (Cyprus), Musica (Strasbourg), MAfestival (Bruges), CDMC (Madrid), MITO Settembre (Milan/Turin), Fundaciò BBVA (Bilbao) and Quincena Musical (San Sebastiàn). The ensemble has also collaborated with many leading ensembles including musikFabrik, Ensemble Modern, L’Instant Donné, London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Talea (NY), Helsinki Philharmonic and Ensemble InterContemporain.
EXAUDI has appeared at many leading UK venues and festivals, including Spitalfields, BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, City of London, Bath, Manchester International Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festivals, Wigmore Hall, Café OTO, Kings Place and South Bank. EXAUDI broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and European radio stations, and has released fourteen critically acclaimed recordings on the NMC, ÆON, Métier, Winter&Winter, Mode, Confront and HCR labels.
Current and forthcoming engagements include ‘Cummings ist der Dichter’ with Ensemble Contemporain at the Philharmonie de Paris, and returns to Wittener Tage, L’Auditori Barcelona, and de Bijloke in Ghent.
