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Synergy Vocals
(Director – Micaela Haslam)
Synergy Vocals specialise in close-microphone singing, providing bespoke teams of singers for a wide variety of projects. Their close relationship with Steve Reich has developed over the 21 years since their first concert in 1996 – Reich’s Tehillim for his 60th birthday celebration at the Barbican. Synergy is also associated with the music of Louis Andriessen, Steven Mackey and Luciano Berio, performing regularly with Ensemble Modern, Ictus, Ensemble InterContemporain, London Sinfonietta and the Colin Currie Group.
The group has given concerts all over the world with orchestras and ensembles including the Boston, Chicago, St Louis, New World and San Francisco Symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic orchestras, Nexus, Steve Reich & Musicians, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and all five of the UK’s BBC orchestras. They have also collaborated with dance companies including the Royal Ballet, Rosas, and Opéra de Paris.
World premières include Steve Reich’s Three Tales and Daniel Variations, Steven Mackey’s Dreamhouse, Louis Andriessen’s La Commedia, David Lang’s Writing on Water and James MacMillan’s Since it was the Day of Preparation…, as well as the UK première of Nono’s monumental Prometeo on London’s South Bank. Synergy provided the chorus for Ravi Shankar’s opera Sukanya with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and, most recently, vocals for Satya Hinduja’s Harmony of the Worlds with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
As well as live concerts and recordings, the group has undertaken educational and outreach projects in the UK, The Netherlands, the USA (including at Princeton University, Eastman College, Oberlin College and for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and South America.
Synergy Vocals is featured on a variety of TV advertisements, pop backing tracks, and film soundtracks including Nanny McPhee, The Chronicles of Narnia, Wrath of the Titans, Harry Potter, Triangle, Severance, and Jane Eyre. Their voices were also featured on the signature tune and soundtrack to ITV’s recent series Home Fires.
Recent CD releases include Berio’s Sinfonia with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, James MacMillan’s Since it was the Day of Preparation… with the Hebrides Ensemble, and John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. Other commercial recordings of Synergy Vocals include the 2011 Grammy winning Dreamhouse by Steven Mackey, De Staat by Louis Andriessen (with London Sinfonietta), Three Tales by Steve Reich (with Steve Reich & Musicians), La Commedia by Louis Andriessen (with AskoǀSchönberg), Kompendium’s Beneath the Waves, These New Puritans’ Field of Reeds, Rob Reed’s Sanctuary, and Steven Wilson’s Grace for Drowning.
Further details about the group’s history and current activities can be found on their website.