PALESTRINA, SEMPRE!

VOCES8 is an a cappella octet from the United Kingdom.

Formed in 2005, VOCES8 has a diverse repertoire ranging from early English and European Renaissance choral works to their own arrangements. They came up with the name en route to a competition. Paul Smith (one of the founding members) said, "We needed a name to go on stage and there were eight of us and we were in Italy. We wanted something that feels like voices but had that Latin vibe to it, so we went with voces."

VOCES8 tours the world. In 2017 the octet sang in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Japan, and in Germany and other European countries.

 In recent seasons VOCES8 has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Tokyo Opera City, National Concert Hall in Taipei, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Concert Hall, Tel Aviv Opera House and Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall. Highlights of the 2014-15 season included performances at Bozar Brussels, Lund Festival, Berliner Dom, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Canterbury Festival, 3 Choirs Festival, Moscow International House of Music, the ACDA National Convention in Salt Lake City, return visits to Tokyo Opera City, Wigmore Hall, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, La Folle Journée France, and a debut tour of Canada. 

The VOCES8 2019-20 tour will again include concert venues in the U.S.A., including one at First United Methodist Church of Lubbock, TX, which has a rich tradition of hosting soloists, instrumentalists and concert performances from all over the world during more than 25 years of its Vesper Concert Series.

Artistic collaborations have included the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, period ensemble Les Inventions, violinist Hugo Ticciati and cellist Matthew Sharp. In the 2015-16 season, the group's composer-in-residence was Ola Gjeilo, alongside Jim Clements as principal music arranger. Previous commissions were from Roxanna Panufnik, Alexander Levine, Alec Roth, Ben Parry and Thomas Hewitt Jones.