Luciano Berio Sinfonia
with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov

(Edinburgh Festival) August 2013

“what a concert…. with the shining vocal group, Synergy Vocals …..a cracking night”

Herald Scotland

“In the inner circle of the huge orchestra sat eight members of the excellent Synergy Vocals, microphones in hand.  If you ever have the chance to hear this piece live, you may, like me, wonder how the vocalists pitch their opening note-cluster with little obvious reference.  Perfect pitch or amazing memory seem the only options.  As impressive as the singing was the impeccable timing of the spoken word, while retaining natural speech rhythms…This excellent and committed performance went down a storm.”

Bachtrack (Alan Coady, 12Aug13)

Steve Reich Drumming
with The Colin Currie Group

March 2013

“The grand praise heaped upon them earlier by the composer was well deserved.  I’ve heard this piece in recordings before but was blown away hearing it performed live.”

Glasgow Punter

“when all nine percussionists are playing the three marimbas on stage, and the whole is topped off by the two female singers of Synergy Vocals, it is hard to imagine music that is any richer”

Herald Scotland

Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins
BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by André de Ridder, with Shara Worden

March 2013

“Synergy Vocals, as the male barber-shoppish quartet representing Anna’s avaricious family, provided the bite.”

The Arts Desk

Luciano Berio Sinfonia
BBCSO conducted by Josep Pons

December 2012

“a resounding rendition of Berio’s Sinfonia….(Synergy Vocals) ably moved across a range of stylistic genres, from the operatic to folk-inspired patter”

Music OMH

“Synergy Vocals were at one with the BBC Symphony Orchestra … as a whole they were properly integrated within the instrumental texture to create an authentically symphonic argument, as intended. At times the vocalists’ style suggested that of the Swingle Singers, for whom the work was originally created, adding another stylistic ingredient into the diverse mix.”

Classical Source (reviewed by Curtis Rogers)

James MacMillan Since it was the Day of Preparation…
(World Premiere) with Hebrides Ensemble and Brindley Sherratt
August 2012

“exquisite performance”

Financial Times

“the best new work that I’ve heard from MacMillan for a while…superb performances all round too”

The Times (****)

“The four individual members of Synergy Vocals featured in many extended and unaccompanied solo passages. (They) were required, often in the interest of word painting, to reach into the far corners of tonality. This produced some very exciting and emotive listening. In many such forays, their final note was required to match the re-entering instrumentalists. The pitch was spot on every time. I found this performance completely engaging …. in fact, I would love to have heard the piece again upon returning home.”

Bachtrack.com

“Synergy Vocals (sang) with rich beauty as required, and articulated with admirable clarity at every turn”

Seenandheard-international.com

“(MacMillan’s vocal writing) includes unaccompanied solos, duets, and quartets as well as full-blown, instrumentally-accompanied numbers in an indescribably pluralistic display that features plainchant-style, chorales, hymns and irresistible folk-tinged melodies and harmonies. The music ranges in mood from austere to warm and tender. The performance was broad, blazing and stunning.”

Heraldscotland.com

Steve Reich Drumming
The Colin Currie Group
June 2012

“Drumming, written in 1971, is a classic, pure and simple … a visceral, ritualistic, unbroken lattice of sound … Sunday’s performance, by the Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals, Rowland Sutherland on piccolo and Dave Sheppard at the mixing desk, was intentionally virtuosic… and seems to have brought in a fresh and much younger audience (to the KBC Great Music in Irish Houses festival)”

Irish Times

Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins
LSO conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
February 2012

“The gentlemen of Synergy Vocals were on form.  (They) added an edge quite lacking elsewhere, rendering the Family’s hypocrital bourgeois morality all the more repellent”

Boulezian

London Sinfonietta conducted by David Atherton

“De Staat…the reason for buying this disc”

The Guardian

Richard Einhorn Voices of Light
LSO conducted by Marin Alsop
November 2011

“… the singing by Synergy Vocals was glorious”

illuminationsmedia.co.uk

Steve Reich The Desert Music
LSO conducted by Kristjan Järvi
October 2011

“The Desert Music … delivered with exemplary precision by Synergy Vocals”
London Evening Standard

“The performance was terrific. The vocal writing came off superbly well, with the ten amplified voices of Synergy Vocals effectively balanced against the orchestra, their parts often reminiscent of jazz-oriented groups such as Singers Unlimited or Swingle II, perfectly in tune”
Seen and Heard International

“… no wonder Reich seemed so pleased at the end”
The Telegraph