Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians
Steve Reich/London Sinfonietta
(rehearsals directed by Micaela Haslam)
October 2009

“In a performance as good as this, which involved four members of Synergy Vocals adding their almost imperceptible harmonic descants to the Sinfonietta players’ impeccably timed relays, the work seemed to exist in an eternal present, forever changing even as it remained paradoxically the same – the piece held the audience in its thrall and received a standing ovation”
The Guardian

“This was a truly spectacular performance by these eighteen musicians, who gave their all to provide a triumphant and dazzling display.”
musicweb-international.com

“Three thousand people sat gripped….hypnotic …..superbly played”
The Times

“one of the highlights of London’s contemporary music calendar this year…..filled both the Festival Hall’s auditorium and the foyer, where the concert was relayed on a video screen in the Clore Ballroom. Excellent choreography and team-work…..this was a truly spectacular performance….a triumphant and dazzling display”
musicweb-international.com

John Adams Grand Pianola Music
Edward Gardner/London Sinfonietta
August 2009

“alternated sustained and staccato wordless voices sung with precision and great expression by three female members of Synergy Vocals. The performance was utterly vivid.”
MusicalCriticism.com

“the highlight was John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music …. a massively difficult piece to pull off in live performance”
Telegraph.co.uk

“the high point was Adams’s Grand Pianola Music”
Guardian.co.uk

“the excellent Synergy Vocals”
Planet Hugill

Reich Tehillim
Johannes Kalitzke/Tiroler Symphonieorchester
September 2008

“the four women of Synergy Vocals displayed a microphonic virtuosity”
Dreh Punkt Kultur Salzburg

“brilliant the singers Micaela Haslam, Rachel Weston, Heather Cairncross and Amy Haworth”
Kronen Zeitung Tirol

“metre changes and repetitions present a challenge in achieving both precision and devotion: the four Synergy soloists were outstanding in this respect”
Tiroler Tageszeitung

Andriessen La Commedia
Reinbert de Leeuw/Asko Ensemble
June 2008

“well-sung and flawlessly executed evening of musical theater”
Bloomberg.com

Nono Prometeo
Diego Masson/London Sinfonietta
May 2008

“almost unbelievably focused and precise….if only live music was always like this”
MusicalCriticism.com

“excellent performance”
MusicOMH.com

“a triumph…the great demands placed upon the singers were impeccably met…outstanding musical performances”
Boulezian

“an unmissable event, brilliantly brought off”
Evening Standard

“the unbroken 135 minutes of intense music making were given the five-star treatment with a performance of total dedication”
MusicalAmerica.com

Reich Drumming
Colin Currie & friends
April 2008

“wholly different – and staggering – musical experience. Colin Currie put together an elite team and led them in a stunning, dramatic version of Drumming – a massive artistic coup for Scotland’s youngest and brightest concert hall”
The Herald

“dream-team…a five-star performance”
Perthshire Advertiser

Reich Music for 18 Musicians
London Sinfonietta directed by Micaela Haslam
April 2008

“perfectly coordinated and tinglingly vivid”
The Guardian

“It’s a mystery how this fiendishly difficult hour-long work is done, who cues whom and why no one loses track of the subtly changing repetitions. The miraculous Sinfonietta players dazzled.”
ThisisLondon.co.uk

“blasting performance by the London Sinfonietta and Synergy Vocals”
Intermezzo

Berio Sequenza 111 – Micaela Haslam
February 2008

“The program opened authoritatively with Sequenza 3, brilliantly performed by Synergy Vocals’ leader Micaela Haslam. This piece can only come first and be performed with utter conviction (as it was here) in any setting where all the other Sequenzas are to be heard at one go.”
Sequenza 21

“thoroughly engaging…her playful performance had as much to do with her vivid facial expressions and lively gestures as with the sounds she produced”
New York Times

Berio Sinfonia
Lorin Maazel/New York Philharmonic
February 2008

“Synergy Vocals..the highly skilled 8-member ensemble..an electrifying, sumptuously colorful and commanding account…the performance was mesmerizing”
New York Times

“(Sinfonia)..with the Synergy singers (the rightful heirs of the Swingle Singers) is still perfectly gorgeous. The performance was stunning.”
Classical Music Network

“the music itself was engaging and the performance by London-based Synergy Vocals was remarkable”
Feast of Music

“the frighteningly competent Synergy Vocals”
observer.com

Weill Seven Deadly Sins
Robert Ziegler, RTÉCO with Ute Lemper
October 2007

“The family …a male quartet, here drawn from the excellent Synergy Vocals”
Irish Times