EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble

EXAUDI is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles for new music. Founded by James Weeks (director) and Juliet Fraser (soprano) in 2002, EXAUDI is based in London and draws its singers from among the UK’s brightest vocal talents.

EXAUDI’s special affinity is for the radical edges of contemporary music, at home equally with complexity, microtonality and experimental aesthetics. The newest new music is at the heart of its repertoire, and it has given national and world premières of many of today’s leading composers, from Sciarrino and Ferneyhough to Cassandra Miller and Jürg Frey among many others. EXAUDI is particularly committed to the music of its own generation, and is proud to champion the work of significant voices including Aaron Cassidy, Evan Johnson, Bryn Harrison, Matthew Shlomowitz, Joanna Bailie, Naomi Pinnock, Andrew Hamilton, James Weeks and Claudia Molitor.

EXAUDI is also strongly involved with the emerging generation of young composers, and regularly takes part in composer development schemes and residencies such as Voix Nouvelles Royaumont and IRCAM Manifeste Academie, as well as workshops at UK universities and conservatoires. EXAUDI has particularly strong links with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (London), Durham University, and City, University of London.

Committed to addressing the persistence of deep inequalities within new music, EXAUDI has been part of PRS Foundation’s Keychange initiative since 2019, pledging gender-balanced programming and commissioning across its own-promotion activities.

An enduring feature of EXAUDI’s programming has been the mixing of contemporary music with the music of the medieval, Renaissance and baroque periods. In 2012 the EXAUDI Italian Madrigal Book project was launched to create new repertoire to stand alongside the masterpieces of Monteverdi, Gesualdo and others. In September 2019 EXAUDI released its first exclusively early music CD, Gesualdo Madrigali, on the Winter&Winter label, which received a Deutsche Schallplattenpreis and was one of BBC Radio 3’s CDs of the Year 2019.

EXAUDI’s many international engagements include Wittener Tage, Darmstadter Ferienkurse, Musica Viva (Munich), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), IRCAM (Paris), Festival d’Automne (Paris), Voix Nouvelles (Royaumont), Pharos (Cyprus), Musica (Strasbourg), MAfestival (Bruges), CDMC (Madrid), MITO Settembre (Milan/Turin), Fundaciò BBVA (Bilbao) and Quincena Musical (San Sebastiàn). The ensemble has also collaborated with many leading ensembles including musikFabrik, Ensemble Modern, L’Instant Donné, London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Talea (NY), Linea, Helsinki Philharmonic and Ensemble InterContemporain.

EXAUDI has appeared at many leading UK venues and festivals, including BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Sound (Aberdeen), Spitalfields, Bath, Manchester International Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festivals, Wigmore Hall, Café OTO, Kings Place and South Bank. EXAUDI broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and European radio stations, and has released seventeen critically acclaimed recordings on the NMC, ÆON, Métier, Winter&Winter, Mode, Kairos, Confront and HCR labels.

Plans for early 2023 include Eugene Birman’s powerfully political video-opera Russia: Today at Kings Place, premieres from Lawrence Dunn and Hollie Harding in London, Finnissy, Monteverdi and Cassandra Miller at Aldeburgh Festival, and Berio Sinfonia in Tenerife.