Ars Nova Copenhagen is a Danish vocal ensemble based in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The ensemble specialises in the interpretation of the polyphonic choral music of the Renaissance and new vocal music.

History

Ars Nova Copenhagen was founded in 1979 by composer Bo Holten among others. Holten was the first chief conductor of the ensemble and held the post until 1995. Tamás Vetö succeeded Holten as chief conductor in 1995 and served in the post until 2000.

Paul Hillier Paul Douglas Hillier OBE (born 9 February 1949) is an English conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in both early and contemporary classical music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He was a co-founder o ...

subsequently became chief conductor of the ensemble in 2003 and stood down from the post in 2023. In March 2024, the ensemble announced the appointment of Sofi Jeannin as its chief conductor, with immediate effect. Jeannin is the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of Ars Nova Copenhagen. The current roster of singers of the group is: * Soprano: Ann-Christin Wesser Ingels, Kate Macoboy, Mari Øyrehagen * Alto: Elenor Wiman, Laura Lamph, Hanne Marie le Fevre * Tenor: Jakob Skjoldborg, Luís Toscano, James Robinson * Bass: Asger Lynge Petersen, Rasmus Kure Thomsen, Mikkel Tuxen

Chief conductors

* Bo Holten (1979–1995) * Tamás Vetö (1995–2000) *

(2003–2023) * Sofi Jeannin (2024–present)

Selected discography

Renaissance to Baroque

* Josquin Desprez: ''Missa de beata virgine''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt *

Pierre de la Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...

: ''Requiem'', Giaches de Wert ''5 Motets''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt 32001. *

: ''Missa L'Homme Arme''.

Nicolas Gombert Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495 – c. 1560)Atlas, p. 396 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex ...

: ''Lugebat David Absalon'', ''Musae Jovis''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt 32008 *

: Sacred Music. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt 32038 *

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; 23 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...

: ''Felix Namque (I), Felix Namque (II), O Nata Lux Salvator Mundi, The Lamentations Of Jeremiah I, The Lamentations Of Jeremiah II, Videte Miraculum''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten with Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord). Kontrapunkt 32003 *

Lassus Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlu ...

: ''Lagrime di San Pietro''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Naxos (1995) * Portuguese Polyphony Manuel Cardoso,

Pedro de Escobar Pedro de Escobar (c. 1465 – after 1535), a.k.a. ''Pedro do Porto'', was a Portuguese composer of the Renaissance, mostly active in Spain. He was one of the earliest and most skilled composers of polyphony in the Iberian Peninsula, whose mu ...

, Manuel da Fonseca

Duarte Lobo Duarte Lobo (c. 1565 – 24 September 1646; Latinized as ''Eduardus Lupus'') was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He was one of the most famous Portuguese composers of the time, together with Filipe de Magalhãe ...

. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Naxos (1995) *

Mogens Pedersøn Mogens Pedersøn (also ''Mogens Pedersen'', ''Magno Petreo''; c. 1583 – January or February 1623) was a Danish instrumentalist and composer. He is considered the most important Danish-born composer before Buxtehude. Life Early in his career he ...

: Sacred Music From The court Of Christian IV: ''3 Hymns from Pratum Spirituale. Ad Te Levavi Oculos Meos. Missa Quinque Vocum.''

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

''Thou Mighty God''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt 32100 *

John Taverner John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...

: ''Taverner & Tudor Music I - The Western Wind''. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Ars Nova Records (2006) *

: ''Taverner & Tudor Music II - Gloria tibi Trinitas''. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Ars Nova Records (2008) *

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

: The Complete Narrative Works. ''Lukas-Passion SWV 480'' (1666), ''Weihnachtshistorie SWV 435'' (c. 1660), ''Auferstehungshistorie SWV 50'' (c. 1623), ''Die Sieben Worte, SWV 478'' (before 1658), ''Johannes-Passion, SWV 481'' (1666), ''Matthäus-Passion, SWV 479'' (1666). Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. 4CD Dacapo (2011). Also available as single discs. * Plainchant, various. The Christmas Story. Ars Nova Copenhagen, Theatre of Voices & Paul Hillier. Harmonia Mundi (2011)

Romantic

* Julens Sange - Christmas songs. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Exlibris * Årstidernes sange. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Exlibris *

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...

: Songs. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Exlibris * Fædrelandssange. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Tamás Vetö. Exlibris * The Golden Age of Danish Partsongs. Music by Nielsen, Kuhlau, Weyse, Hartmann,

Gade Gade may refer to: * Gade - Gade people * Gade (surname) * Gadê County, in Qinghai, China * River Gade, in southern England *"Gade", a song by Croatian singer Severina Vučković * Gade language, a language of Nigeria See also * Gades (dis ...

, Laub,

Heise Heise may refer to: People with the surname * Bob Heise (born 1947), American Major League Baseball player * David R. Heise (born 1937), American sociologist * Geoff Heise, American actor * Georg Arnold Heise (1778–1851), an influential Germ ...

, Schultz and

Nørholm Nørholm, also called Nørholmen, is a manor house and agricultural property on in the municipality of Grimstad in Agder county, Norway. The estate is known mostly because of one of its previous owners was Nobel Prize-winning author Knut Hamsun ...

. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Dacapo (2014)

Contemporary

* Bo Holten: ''Sønderjysk Sommer Symfoni''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Exlibris *

Per Nørgård Per Nørgård (; 13 July 1932 – 28 May 2025) was a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style varied considerably throughout his career, his music often included repeatedly evolving melodies, in the vein of Jean Sibelius, and a per ...

: Den Foruroligende Ælling. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Ivan Hansen. Exlibris * New Music For Choir -

Hans Abrahamsen Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His ''Let me tell you (Abrahamsen), Let me tell you'' (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at ''The Guard ...

''Universe Birds''.

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (21 November 1932 – 27 June 2016) was a Danish composer. Biography Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was the son of the sculptor Jørgen Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. He studied at the Royal D ...

''Konstateringer''. Bo Holten ''Grundtvig Motets''.

''Wie Ein Kind''.

Poul Ruders Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own composi ...

''2 Motets''. Sven-David Sandström ''En Ny Himmel Och En Ny Jord''. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Bo Holten. Kontrapunkt 32016 *

Ib Nørholm Ib Nørholm (24 January 1931 in Søborg, Gladsaxe Municipality – 10 June 2019) was a Danish composer and organist. Life and career Nørholm studied with Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he later taught (from 1973), bec ...

: ''Elverspejl'' (The Elf Mirror), Pavlovski, Resmark, Hoyer, Vocal Group Ars Nova & Frans Rasmussen. Kontrapunkt (1996) * Bo Holten: ''Orfeo-Fragmenter I-VI''. Niels Rosing-Schow ''Sommerfugledalen''. Exlibris 30055 (1996) *

: Choral Works. ''Americana op. 89, MacMoon Songs III op. 154, Sjaefuld Sommer op. 146, 3 Lieder, Fuglene op.129''. Vocal Group Ars Nova, Danish Chamber Players & Tamás Vetö. Dacapo *

: Works for Voices and Instruments. Vocal Group Ars Nova, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen & Ivan Hansen. Dacapo *

. ''Singe die Gärten'' - Works for Choir I. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Tamás Vetö. Dacapo *

. ''Mythic Morning'' - Works for Choir II. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Tamás Vetö. Dacapo (2005) *

Rued Langgaard Rued Langgaard (; born Rud Immanuel Langgaard; 28 July 1893 – 10 July 1952) was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries but was recognized 16 years aft ...

: Rose Garden Songs. Dacapo. Vocal Group Ars Nova & Tamás Vetö (reissued 2009) *

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

. ''In C''. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Ars Nova Records (2006) *

: ''Lygtemaendene tager til byen'' (The Will-o'-the-Wisps Go to Town), Dam-Jensen, Kihlberg, Gjerris, Henning-Jensen, Jensen, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Thomas Dausgaard. Dacapo * Svend Nielsen (b. 1937). ''Sommerfugledalen'', for 12 solo voices. (Also includes a reading of the poem by the poet recorded in 1991 for the earlier Kontrapunkt release). Ars Nova Copenhagen & Tamás Vetö. Dacapo (2007) *

David Lang (composer) David Lang (born January 8, 1957) is an American composer living in New York City. Co-founder of the musical collective Bang on a Can, he was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for '' The Little Match Girl Passion'', which went on to win ...

. ''The little Match Girl Passion''. Theatre of Voices, Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. harmonia mundi (2009) *

(b. 1932). The Natural World of Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Dacapo (2010) * ''A Bridge of Dreams.''

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

(America, 1917-2003) ''Mass for Saint Cecilia's Day'' (1983). Ross Edwards (composer) (Australia, b. 1943) ''Sacred Kingfisher Psalms'' (2009).

Jack Body John Stanley Body (7 October 1944 – 10 May 2015) was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and d ...

(New Zealand, b.1944) ''Five Lullabies'' (1989).

Liu Sola Liu Sola ( zh, s=刘索拉, p=Liú Suǒlā; born 1955 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese composer, vocalist, music producer, and author. Biography After graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music with a degree in composition, she published ...

(China, b.1955) ''The Seafarer'' to a text of

Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the #Arthur trilogy, Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Children's Fiction ...

(2009). Anne Boyd (Australia, b.1946) ''As I crossed a bridge of Dreams'' (1975). A cappella music from Australia and New Zealand. Andrew Lawrence-King, Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Ars Nova Records (2011) *

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

(b. 1935). ''Creator Spiritus''. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Harmonia Mundi (2012) * Bent Sørensen (composer) (b. 1958)/

Johannes Ockeghem Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colle ...

. 'Fragments of Requiem'. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Dacapo (2012) *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

: The Complete John Cage Edition Volume 18: The Choral Works 1. Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier. Mode Records * Axel Borup-Jørgensen: Carambolage: Works for ensemble and voice. Århus Sinfonietta, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Søren Kinch Hansen. Dacapo (2014) * Pablo Ortiz: Gallos y Huesos , Notker. Ars Nova Copenhagen and Paul Hillier. Orchid Records (2015) * "First Drop". Howard Skempton: "Rise up my love"; Michael Gordon: "He Saw a Skull"; David Lang: "When we were children";

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African-born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfachheit'' (New Simplicity) mo ...

: "Walking Song rgan; Pablo Ortiz: "Five Monets";

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

: "Un beau baiser";

Gabriel Jackson Gabriel Jackson may refer to: * Gabriel Jackson (composer) Gabriel Jackson (born 1962 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is an English people, English composer. He is a three-time winner of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors British Comp ...

: "L'homme armé"; Howard Skempton: "More sweet than my refrain";

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

: "Know what is above you";

: "Clapping Music" (arr.

);

: "Mexico City Blues"

References

External links

Homepage of Ars Nova Copenhagen
{{Authority control Danish choirs Musical groups established in 1979