The Sixteen

Established as a leading choral ensemble, The Sixteen has earned recognition for its command of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire while also embracing music from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Performances, recordings, and educational programs have carried its work to listeners on multiple continents.

Harry Christophers formed the group in 1977 without an official name; it assumed the title The Sixteen and presented its first concert under that name in 1979. Its founding purpose centered on English polyphony extending into present-day choral works. Christophers also assembled a period-instrument orchestra, known at times as the Orchestra of the Sixteen and the Symphony of Harmony & Invention, that remains indispensable for oratorios, odes, and operas by Handel, Monteverdi, and Purcell. The ensemble gave the world premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Gawain at Covent Garden in 1991 and has maintained an extensive touring schedule throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Recordings began early in its history and have appeared on Hyperion, Chandos, and Virgin Classics, among other labels. Honors include the 1992 Gramophone Award for The Rose and the Ostrich Feather: Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol. 1, together with the Diapason d'Or and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Since 2000 the ensemble has undertaken an annual concert series in England called the Choral Pilgrimage. It created its own Coro label in 2001. Classic FM named the Sixteen its Artist of the Year in 2009. Collaboration with the Genesis Foundation, begun in 2010, has supported the youth program Genesis Sixteen in the U.K. The foundation commissioned James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater, which the group premiered in 2016; the work has also been featured in the BBC series Sacred Music. The ensemble made its first tour of China in 2017. Its fortieth anniversary in 2019 was marked by the album 40, a collection of highlights drawn from earlier recordings. The Sixteen continues to issue multiple albums each year, including four in 2021 alone. Its 2022 release An Old Belief, sharing the title of that year’s Choral Pilgrimage, presents music by Hubert Parry, Thomas Campion, and Cecilia McDowall.