Press Biog
Please request a list of singers’ names for each project, and ensure that all singers’ names are correctly printed in the programme. We will be happy to provide you with a shorter version of the following biography if required.
Synergy Vocals
Synergy Vocals has been closely associated with the music of Steve Reich for almost 30 years, providing vocalists for Steve Reich & Musicians for much of that time. Specialising in close-microphone singing, the group has performed all over the world with ensembles including the Boston, Chicago, New World, San Francisco, St Louis, Utah and Vancouver Symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles and Brooklyn Philharmonic orchestras, Nexus, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, AskoǀSchönberg, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Ictus, London Sinfonietta, the Colin Currie Group, the London Symphony Orchestra and all of the UK’s BBC orchestras. Equally well-known for their performances of music by Luciano Berio, John Adams, Louis Andriessen and Steven Mackey, they have also collaborated with dance companies in London and Brussels.
World premières include Reich’s Three Tales, Daniel Variations, Traveler’s Prayer and Jacob’s Ladder, Steven Mackey’s Dreamhouse, Andriessen’s La Commedia, David Lang’s writing on water, Sir James MacMillan’s Since it was the day of Preparation… and Guillaume Connesson’s Kaléidoscope, as well as the UK première of Nono’s Prometeo. Recently, the group featured in the UK premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Revue Music for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band at the BBC Proms in London. Synergy Vocals also provided the chorus for Ravi Shankar’s opera Sukanya with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and for Satya Hinduja’s Harmony of the Worlds project with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Their commercial recordings include Reich’s The Desert Music, Three Tales, Jacob’s Ladder and Traveler’s Prayer, Mackey’s Grammy-winning Dreamhouse, MacMillan’s Since it was the day of Preparation…., Andriessen’s De Staat and La Commedia, John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music (conducted by the composer), and Berio’s Sinfonia. More recent recordings include Steve Reich’s Proverb and Music for 18 Musicians with the Colin Currie Group (both co-produced by Micaela Haslam), and The Desert Music with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, co-mixed/edited by Micaela Haslam. Synergy Vocals are also featured on Karl Jenkins’ Imagined Oceans, Rob Reed’s Sanctuary, These New Puritans’ Field of Reeds, Kompendium’s Beneath the Waves, and Steven Wilson’s Grace for Drowning.
As well as live concerts and recordings, the group has undertaken educational and outreach projects in the UK, The Netherlands, the USA and South America. Regularly working both with professional and student ensembles in the preparation of Steve Reich’s music, director Micaela Haslam is the pre-eminent Music for 18 Musicians coach, personally endorsed by Reich. She has also given numerous workshops and talks about his music.
Synergy Vocals is featured on a variety of film soundtracks, including Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Severance, Triangle and Onward, and on television signature tunes including the Home Fires series for ITV (UK).