Biography:
The Basel madrigalists, a vocal ensemble of 4 to 24 singers, both soloists and choirs, have a wide-ranging repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary music. They were founded in 1978 at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel by Fritz Näf, who directed the ensemble until 2013. Since then, Raphael Immoos has been the artistic director.
The Basel madrigalists specialize in the performance of new music (regular commissions, premieres and first performances by Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Dieter Ammann, Erik Oña, Matthias Pintscher, Arthur Lourié, Giles Swayne). The concert programs establish references between old and new musical works or musical phenomena and are often subject to an overarching theme. They also work with instrumental ensembles of various formations.
They take part in the world's major music festivals (MarchMusik Berlin and Lucerne Festival, among others), concert tours have taken them to almost every country in Europe, to Russia, the USA, Lebanon and the Far East. A highlight was the honorable invitation as the first and only Swiss ensemble to the 4th World Symposium of Choral Music and World Choir Festival in Sydney in 1996 (performances at the Sydney Opera House, among others) and a tour to Brisbane, Hong Kong and South Korea that went with it. Staged (first) performances as well as radio, television and CD recordings are part of the diverse work of the ensemble.
Awards: German Record Critics' Prize for the series »Documentation« from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (1982); Promotional Prize for Music of the European Economy (1998); Sponsorship award from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation for the interpretation of contemporary music (1991, 2002, 2006).
Albums:
