Papagena is a rarity in the UK, an all-female consort of five professional singers set up to explore music from medieval times to the present day written specifically for female voices. The group’s programming defies pigeonholing; drawing richly on traditional folk music and women’s working songs from around the world, Papagena juxtaposes these pieces with more classical repertoire from Kassia and Hildegard of Bingen to Imogen Heap and Katy Perry, as well as writing its own material and commissioning from an eclectic range of composers including Errollyn Wallen, Oliver Tarney, Janet Wheeler, John Duggan and Jim Clements. Medieval, classical, folk and contemporary music is interwoven into intriguing programmes such as Nuns and Roses, The Darkest Midnight, Still Moving and A Winter’s Dawn which fascinate diverse audiences and the group also undertakes education projects involving both school and adult voices.
Formally launched in 2015, the group has performed at numerous festivals throughout the UK including the Edinburgh Festival, Brandenburg Choral Festival (London), the Shropshire Music Trust, Music at Christchurch, Nottingham Cathedral and Bromsgrove Festivals and the 2019 Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester.
Papagena’s first album, Nuns and Roses, was produced and released under its own label in 2017. Its second album The Darkest Midnight was released in November 2018 under the SOMM record label and reached No 6 in the classical charts as well as the No 1 classical download position. It was selected as Recording of the Month in December 2018 by Music Web International. Its third album Hush! was released on the SOMM label in March 2020 and received stunning reviews in all major journals including Gramophone.
Their programme for their debut appearance at The Stables is as follows:
Hamisha asar – Flory Jagoda
O virtus sapientiae – Hildegard of Bingen (which is currently featured in your publicity material online)
There is no rose – English 15th century
Sicut lilium – attrib Leonora d’Este
Holi – Shivani Rattan
Moonset – Don Macdonald
Dolce cantavi – Caroline Shaw
Lauliku lapsepoli – Veljo Tormis
Kaval sviri – Trad Bulgarian arr Petar Lyondev
Who knows where the time goes – Sandy Denny arr S Vango
Order & Chaos – Lady Maisery
Eine kleine Frist – Hermann van Veen arr Wishful Singing
Interval
Gallant Weaver – James MacMillan arr S Tenant-Flowers
I courted a sailor – Kate Rusby arr S Vango
Oy khodyt son – Trad Ukrainian arr S Tenant-Flowers
Si ch’io vorrei morire – Monteverdi
Changeling’s lullaby – Davenport and Arrowsmith
Jack’s Valentine – Libby Larsen
Run to you – Pentatonix arr Julie Gaulke
Music for a while – Purcell arr Gunnar Eriksson
The woman’s IF – Jim Clements
“an exhilarating, unworked sound…leaves you marvelling. Certain well-established, all-male groups could learn a thing or two from these fine musicians.” (Alexander Coghlan, Gramophone Magazine May 2020)
“crème de la crème in the crowded a cappella space” (Edinburgh Festival 2018)
