ORA

ORA Singers & Suzi Digby OBE

Suzi Digby presents ORA Singers, the second Golden Age of choral music. Taking the musical experience of old and new masterworks to new levels through its live performances and recordings.

Ora Singers have just released their first album, Upheld By Stillness. Here is a collection of the latest reviews following the launch.

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Buy the album on Amazon or iTunes

 

This rather gorgeous disc is the first volume in a projected series that will place masterpieces of Renaissance choral music alongside reflections by contemporary composers. It is the brainchild of music educator, presenter and conductor Suzi Digby…

Anne McAlister, McAlister Matheson Music

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ORA, a newly-formed chamber choir headed up by tireless champion of choral music Suzi Digby, bursts onto the stage with a bold project pairing Renaissance gems with specially-commissioned ‘reflections’ that complement them in various ways.

David Smith, Presto Classical

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Antony Baxter is joined by British conductor and music educator Suzi Digby, OBE. Watch the full stunning interview here

“a musical comet … you’ll go a long way to hear singing this good. Truly, this is British choral music’s new golden age.”

5* Review, Claudia Pritchard – Independent on Sunday, 14th February 2016

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ORA is made up of some of the UK’s finest consort singers, sitting to my ears somewhere between The Sixteen and Tenebrae … The melancholy severity of Byrd’s original is beautifully measured, ORA supplying some of the flexibility and relish for the unfolding harmonies I sometimes miss from The Sixteen’s recording … I’ll be listening eagerly to see if volume 2 is done with such a sure touch.”

Andrew McGregor – BBC Radio 3 Record Review, 13th February 2016

…it was a real delight to hear this performance, the second of two launching Suzi Digby’s new vocal ensemble. True to their ambition of fusing the ancient and the modern, ORA filled the chapel with the music of Elizabethan composer William Byrd, along with new commissions inspired by it. What resulted was a thought-provoking programme that capitalised on the historical setting and scored high on drama…

Hannah Nepil, Financial Times 11th February 2016

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Five star review on Amazon:

This is an utterly exquisite disc of choral music, old and brand new.

Under Suzi Digby’s meticulous direction, Ora’s singing is of the uttermost highest standards. All is supremely well balanced, allowing every strand in the various textures to register perfectly. Indeed, so good is it that one is reminded of orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival that can produce perfection alongside innate musical expression.

The music is compelling and beautiful. The early masterworks are magnificent, but with so many new works, one might wonder what to expect. All the new music manages to reach into your soul and tug at your heart. It is all so beautiful, yet it does not compromise. Its integrity shines through, and at the end of this hour long journey, one feels the better for it all.

The recording quality is exemplary.

One cannot hear better singing than this, and with such a beautifully prepared and stimulating programme, this disc should enchant and inspire very many.

Review on Amazon:

Impressive debut

Suzi Digby drew from them a remarkably strong, focussed sound notable for its flexibility, vibrant yet well blended with a lovely sense of line.

… [a] passionate performance of Byrd’s Ave Verum with the voices shaping the vocal lines beautifully.

This was certainly an impressive debut. Any new ensemble has its work cut out in the busy London performing world… Suzi Digby and Ora seem set to carve a path by their dedication to commissioning new music.