The King's Singers

The King’s Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on
the world’s greatest stages for over 50 years. They are renowned for their unrivalled
technique, versatility and skill in performance, and for their consummate musicianship,
drawing both on the group’s rich heritage and its pioneering spirit to create an
extraordinary wealth of original works and unique collaborations.
What has always distinguished the group is their comfort in an unprecedented range
of styles and genres, pushing the boundaries of their repertoire, while at the same
time honouring their origins in the British choral tradition. They are known and loved
around the world, appearing regularly in major cities, festivals and venues across
Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, including Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie
Hamburg, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Concertgebouw
Amsterdam, Helsinki Music Centre, Sydney Opera House, Tokyo Opera City and the
National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing. They also work with orchestras,
recently including a specially commissioned work by Sir James MacMillan with the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.
The King’s Singers’ extensive discography has led to numerous awards including two
Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a place in Gramophone magazine’s inaugural
Hall of Fame. As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations in 2018, the group undertook
a series of major tours worldwide, supporting the release of a special anniversary album
GOLD (also nominated for a Grammy Award), which featured important works in the
group’s history and new commissions by Bob Chilcott, John Rutter and Nico Muhly.
This commitment to creating a new repertoire has always been central to the group,
with over 200 commissioned works by many leading composers of the 20th and
21st Centuries, including John Tavener, Judith Bingham, Eric Whitacre, György Ligeti,
Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki and Toru Takemitsu. These join a unique body
of close-harmony and a cappella arrangements, including those by individual King’s
Singers past and present. Many of their early collaborators’ own experience with brass
bands helped to inform the distinct ‘King’s Singers sound’ and a large number of their
commissioned works and arrangements are available in their own signature series with

Hal Leonard, selling over two million copies worldwide. A key to the group’s success has
been their ability to evolve and innovate over many years – and through 28 individual
members – while always retaining this special sound and musical integrity.
They also lead educational workshops and residential courses across the world, working
with groups and individuals on their techniques and approaches to ensemble singing.
In 2018 they founded The King’s Singers Global Foundation to provide a platform for
the creation of new music across multiple disciplines, coach a new generation of
performers and provide musical opportunities to people of all backgrounds.
The King’s Singers were formed in 1968, when six recent choral scholars from King’s
College, Cambridge gave a concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. By chance, the
group was made up of two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the
group has maintained this formation ever since that debut.