Ikon Arts News

We are delighted that the Swingle Singers and The Songmen have been nominated in the CASA's 2012 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.

Best Classical Song: 'Poor Wayfaring Stranger' by Peter Hollens with Swingle Singers

Best Jazz Album:  'Midnight' by The Songmen

For more information please click here. 

Ikon Arts Management announces the addition of several new artists: internationally acclaimed pianist Peter Donohoe, male voice a cappella group The Songmen, the renowned collegiate Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and their young director Graham Ross and Piazzolla experts the Fugata Quintet. To view the full press release please click here.

Stile Antico’s recent nine-concert tour of the States, with a quick hop into Canada, has earned the ensemble rave reviews from the likes of the New York Times, Boston Globe and the Vancouver Sun. With concerts in Seattle, Vancouver, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Davidson, Richmond, Durham, Boston and New York, Stile Antico performed their Puer natus est Christmas programme bringing ‘welcome light’ to the darkest time of the year (Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Following Stile Antico’s fourth performance at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Boston Globe hailed that ‘Stile Antico makes all else just noise…the Agnus Dei of the Mass was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard’ (Boston Globe) and the Boston Musical Intelligencer wrote that ‘nothing can replace the pure pleasure of hearing this talented ensemble live’ (Boston Musical Intelligencer). The Vancouver Sun reported that ‘the volcanic reaction from the Chan Centre audience was jarring but well deserved. A single encore ended an evening of near perfection’, the New York Times praised Stile Antico’s ‘appealingly warm, fresh performance [presenting] a world of gracefully spun themes that sound as moving on their own as in context’ (New York Times) and the Seattle Sun Break wrote that ‘from unison plainchant which ebbed and flowed like speech, to seven intricate, complex parts for the Tallis, Stile Antico sang unaccompanied with exact pitch and no vibrato so that chords were marvels of perfection’ (Seattle Sun Break). Finally, radio station WQXR’s Operavore Best of 2011 in Opera article, published just the day after Stile Antico’s performance in New York, highlighted Stile Antico’s ‘seamless blending of voices [which] breathed new life into Tudor-era Advent classics. The effect was mesmerizing and meditative—exactly what one looks for in an early music' (WQXR's Operavore) and this concert was listed by Alex Ross in The New Yorker's Best Classical Performances of 2011.

For further reviews of the tour visit Stile Antico’s website here.

David Owen Norris rounds out the year with a New Year's Eve special on Radio 4 at 10:30 am: Cheers! A History of Toasting, presented by John Sergeant and with music selected, arranged and explained by Norris and performed by the choir of Clare College, Cambridge, directed by Graham Ross. This will be followed by his Charles Dickens's iPod at 13:30 on 1st January on Radio 4. 

Don't miss The Prince and the Composer,  A Film about Hubert Parry by HRH the Prince of Wales on Christmas Day, at 3.10 pm on BBC 2:

'The joy of this programme was the deconstruction of the music by choristers and musicologists, in particular, a simply marvellous chap called David Owen Norris, who explained the ethereal nuts and bolts of Jerusalem with the panache and fizz of a rhythmic vacuum-cleaner salesman. Somebody needs to sign this man up for a series on why we love the music we love, right now.' Sunday Times 

Finally, Norris's Burns's iPod is repeated 3 times on Radio4Xtra on Burns Night, January 25th

Since 2008, Ikon Arts Management has successfully developed a prestigious touring programme for VOCES8 (who now perform throughout the world with over 100 concerts a year).

As Agents, Ikon Arts Management will continue to play a key role in the development of VOCES8’s rapidly expanding touring schedule.  Whilst General Manager, EPAM, will forge ahead with the many groundbreaking educational and repertoire publishing opportunities that this new partnership offers to the publishing arm of Edition Peters. 

To view the full press release please click here.

Ivan Hewett of The Telegraph awarded Stile Antico's concert in the Wigmore Hall on 22nd November a 4 star review. Performing their Immortal Glory of Spain programme to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Tomás Luis de Victoria, Stile Antico's 'thrilling concert' was praised for the achievement of 'unanimity just through eye contact and the mysterious “feel” that really good chamber groups have.' On top of this, 'their sound has the urgency and freshness you get from young voices, and an amazing rhythmic vitality' (Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph). To read the full review click here.

"Fialkowska produces a winning recital to crown the Liszt bicentenary" praises Andrew Clark of the Financial Times. Following the success of Fialkowska's various recordings of Chopin to celebrate his bicentenary, her most recent release of Liszt's lesser known works "plays to Fialkowska's strengths - her romantic sensibility, her sense of poetry, her unaffected artistry and knack of showcasing the music's Chopin-esque brilliance" (Andrew Clark, Financial Times). For the full review click here. On top of this, Michael Church of the Independant hailed the disc as Album of the Week here and Richard Morrison of The Times awards the disc 4 stars here.

The London A Cappella Festival has announced the winners of the Composition Competition 2012 in association with Oxford University Press.

Alan Smith's 'View Me Lord' was the winning entry for Category A. The winning piece will be published by Oxford University Press and will be performed at the London A Cappella Festival in January 2012.

David Jenkin's 'Full Fathom Five' was the winning entry for Category B. The winning piece will be performed by the Swingle Singers at the London A Cappella Festival in January 2012. In addition to this, the winning piece will be performed by the Swingle Singers in concert in 2012.

No winner has been awarded this year for Category C

For more details please click here.   

In this month's BBC Music Magazine (October 2011) Hagai Shaham (violinist) is interviewed regarding the Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch's debut recording of Mendehlssohn's Piano Trio No.1 in D Minor and No. 2 in C minor in collaboration with Arnon Erez (piano) and Raphael Wallfisch (cello).

The disc is to be realeased next month on Nimbus records. 

The world famous Chilingirian Quartet will be headlining the Fressingfield Music Festival on 27th September with a programme of Mozart, Ravel and Beethoven. Following this, on the 28th of September they will be performing a programme of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Brahms at the Sage Gateshead as part of the Newcastle International Chamber Music Series. Don't miss out on these fantastic concerts!