Biography:
The Basler Madrigalisten, a vocal ensemble of 4 to 24 singers, both soloists and choristers, 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 specialise in performing new music (regular composition commissions, world premieres and first performances by Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Dieter Ammann, Erik Oña, Matthias Pintscher, Arthur Lourié, Giles Swayne). The concert programmes establish connections between old and new musical works or musical phenomena and are often based on an overarching theme. They also collaborate with instrumental ensembles of various compositions.
They participate in major music festivals around the world (including MärzMusik Berlin and Lucerne Festival), and concert tours have taken them to almost every country in Europe, as well as Russia, the USA, Lebanon and the Far East. A highlight was the honourable invitation as the first and only Swiss ensemble to the 4th World Symposium on Choral Music and World Choir Festival in Sydney in 1996 (performances at the Sydney Opera House, among other venues) and an associated tour to Brisbane, Hong Kong and South Korea. Scenic (premiere) performances as well as radio, television and CD recordings are part of the ensemble's diverse repertoire.
Awards: German Record Critics' Award for the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis's ‘Dokumenta’ series (1982); European Business Music Promotion Award (1998); Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Promotion Award for the interpretation of contemporary music (1991, 2002, 2006).
Albums:
