juice vocal ensemble
“The irrepressible Juice Vocal Ensemble – an all-female trio of astonishing variety, spark and brilliance – is proof that the sap is still rising in classical music.”
The Guardian, May 2011
anna snow : sarah dacey : kerry andrew
“amazing razor-sharp tuning and purity of tone…they held us spellbound”
The Daily Telegraph, August 2009
juice (‘The 21st century’s answer to the Swingles or the King’s Singers’ The Times) are at the forefront of the UK’s experimental/classical scene, performing new vocal music which draws on classical, world music, jazz, folk, pop, improvisation and theatre. They have featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. They have performed at London’s Wigmore Hall and the South Bank, King’s Place and the Roundhouse. In 2011, they made their US debut with concerts in New York and at the famed SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. In 2007, they were the first UK prize winners in the history of the internationally-renowned Tampere Vocal Festival.
juice‘s debut album ‘Songspin’ (Nonclassical, 2011) won an international Independent Music Award for Best Contemporary Classical Album in 2012. Featuring remixes by the likes of of Camille producer MaJiker and Bjork collaborator Mikhail Karikis, it was reviewed by The Observer as ’Eighteen immaculately achieved tracks, spanning Elisabeth Lutyens to Gabriel Prokofiev via folk song and avant garde, enchant and enthrall‘ The Observer.
juice have had their music choreographed to by Maurice Causey from the Nederlands Dans Theatre; have devised their own live vocal score to the 1916 film The Danger Girl (BFI Southbank, Latitude Festival, King’s Place with the Bird’s Eye View Film Festival); have performed live for a London College of Fashion Graduate Show; and have worked with internationally-renowned beatboxers Shlomo and Beardyman.
juice regularly commission new works: in 2010 alone, juice commissioned 14 new pieces, including their project Laid Bare – 10 Love Songs. This saw juice work with ten diverse UK-based composers, including Gavin Bryars, Anna Meredith, Errollyn Wallen, folk singer Jim Moray and artpop star Micachu to create an utterly diverse songbook spanning fiendishly difficult contemporary writing to ethereal folk song settings. These have been performed at The Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Kings Place, the City of London Festival, the National Portrait Gallery and the York Late Music Festival.
juice are experienced and passionate music educators, bringing experimental a cappella vocal music (both performing and composing of) to groups of all ages and abilities around the country. They have been Ensemble-in-Residence at the universities of York and Ulster and have run workshops and longer projects at numerous other academic institutions. They have run youth projects for the likes of Aldeburgh Young Musicians, Wigmore Hall, Live Music Now, and Sound and Music.
Performances in 2013
25 April – workshop and concert at Queen’s University, Belfast
www.myspace.com/juicevocalensemble
Please contact us for a fully updated biography for concert programmes
Programmes
International Women’s Day – a special programme
juice vocal ensemble
A rich, playful and punchy programme of music by women composers, inspired by love, death, myth and mystery, including Elisabeth Lutyen’s little-heard gem, Of the snow, and works by each of the members of juice. The concert will also feature a set from their recent songbook commission, Laid Bare: 10 Love Songs, with pieces by Roxanna Panufnik, Anna Meredith, Errollyn Wallen, composer, songwriter and producer Mica Levi (aka Micachu), and avant-soul diva E.Laine.
Boys Don’t Sing (Girls Don’t Run) – Kerry Andrew
Dream of You – Morag Galloway
Of the snow – Elisabeth Lutyens
Seven Star Girls – Anna Snow
Cruel Trilogy – Sarah Dacey
from Laid Bare: 10 Love Songs:
Faint Praise – Roxanna Panufnik
Heal You – Anna Meredith
Never Adore – Mica Levi
Impossible Love – Errollyn Wallen
con fu sion (Love Me, Love Me Not?) – E.Laine
Between the mountains and the sea
juice vocal ensemble
A selection of beautiful pieces to stretch the ear, from Scandinavian herding calls to traditional Scottish songs and hymns to Mary. This programme includes pieces by prominent UK composers Ivan Moody, Nicola LeFanu and Paul Mealor.
Siren Songs
juice vocal ensemble
A mixed programme of a cappella works and works with electronics and visuals directly based on mythological female characters from the Inuit Goddess of the sea, Sedna, to the Greek sirens and the Nordic war and fate goddesses.
Requirements for this concert: 3 mics with mic stands and stand lights; monitors; large projection screen and projector; laptop or DVD player (which has audio) AND CD player able to potentially work simultaneously; Audio Visual engineer or sound engineer.
tales of three
juice vocal ensemble
The number three appears throughout folklore as a symbol of mystical power and significance. Words and actions are often repeated three times in magic rituals. With this in mind, juice present an exhilarating programme of new music exploring the myths surrounding the number. As they say, all good things come in threes…
folk tales
juice vocal ensemble
Albanian, Macedonian, Hungarian and Estonian folksongs make up the Eastern European element of this well-loved programme. Popular British folksongs are performed in unusual arrangements alongside traditional American lullabies and songs.
This concert can be tailored to give prominence to British, Eastern European or American folksongs. We also perform a version of the programme with clarinettist Matt Dibble, collaborating on The Water is Wide, a suite of well-known British folksongs.
Of the snow
juice vocal ensemble
‘Who’d have thought
that snow falls’ (Frank O’Hara)
Morton Feldman’s rarely performed Three Voices was written for Joan La Barbara who sang one line live while the other two were pre-recorded. Juice perform a completely live version of this sensuous work. It can stand on its own in a short concert (approximately 50 minutes) or as half of a longer programme to include Elisabeth Lutyens’s Of the Snow and Nadja Plein’s The Flake the Wind.
Laid Bare: 10 Love Songs
juice vocal ensemble
Laid Bare: 10 Love Songs
Gavin Bryars: Two Love Songs
Damien Harron: When Birds Do Sing
Anna Meredith: Heal You Inside
Dai Fujikura: away we play
Mica Levi: Never Adore
Jim Moray: The Unquiet Grave
Roxanna Panufnik: Faint Praise
Errollyn Wallen: Impossible Love
Philip Neil Martin: Aham Prema
E.Laine: Confusion (Love, Me, Love Me Not?)
Ten UK composers/songwriters with diverse musical backgrounds were asked to create a three-minute a cappella piece, commissioned by juice with funds from Arts Council England, the PRS Foundation and Vale of Glamorgan Festival. They are:
- Gavin Bryars, internationally renowned composer of works such as The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
- Anna Meredith, composer of the ground-breaking Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra and the 2009 Last Night of the Proms commission froms
- Damien Harron, a composer focused on experimental music theatre and world music traditions
- Errollyn Wallen, CBE, composer of songs, opera and community music
- Dai Fujikura is an award-winning, internationally-renowned composer; performers of his work include London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Contemporain, and BBC Concert Orchestra at the BBC Proms
- Philip Neil Martin’s music spans concert music, installations, film, dance and fashion. He was Music Creator in Residence at the London College of Fashion and is part of the PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music Plus Producers scheme.
- Roxanna Panufnik, respected choral and orchestral composer
- E.Laine, a singer/composer with a avant-garde take on soul, jazz and improvisation
- Jim Moray, winner of many UK folk awards for his contemporary look at traditional folk music
- Mica Levi (Micachu), of internationally-acclaimed artpop band Micachu and the Shapes
The Love Songs can be performed as a set as a short concert, or combined with other juice repertoire for a full evening’s recital.
Discography
Songspin
“…no matter how demanding the music in the extremity of its range, the density of its harmonies, the eccentricities of its timbres, and the complexity of its rhythms, the singers make consistently beautiful sounds with astonishingly clean intonation.”
juice‘s debut CD Songspin for Gabriel Prokofiev’s nonclassical label is an eclectic mix of classics such as Elisabeth Lutyens’ Of the Snow, juice commissions and their own compositions, and ahalf a dozen remixes
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Photographer: Dannie Price
Audio files
E.Laine: Confusion
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Gavin Bryars: Io amai sempre
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juice and MaJiKer - Only Girl in the World
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Recorded live at York University 2012
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