About this Artist
THEATRE OF VOICES was created by Paul Hillier to explore the notion of a "theatre" where the scenery is the sound of voices and the action consists of words. Some of TOV's repertoire is experimental and obscure, while other music explores more familiar territory, especially the cross-roads between early and contemporary music. Theatre of Voices is flexible in design and seeks to utilize the talents of artists who are equally at home in the old and the new. Theatre of Voices has recorded extensively for Harmonia Mundi USA. Several prominent composers have written music for Theatre of Voices including Steve Reich, Ingram Marshall and Arvo Pärt. John Adams composed a composite role for three countertenors from Theatre of Voices in his oratorio El Niño, which they have performed in Paris, Berlin, Adelaide and San Francisco; recorded on CD for Nonesuch and Art HausMusik for DVD.
ANN-KRISTIN JONES is a Swedish mezzo-soprano, born in 1975. Jones was trained at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo, Norway, and the Opera Academy and the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. She made her operatic début in 2001 in the title role of Handel's Orlando and has since sung such roles as Third Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Siébel in Gounod's Faust, and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at theaters such as the Drottningholm Court Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Malmö Opera in Malmö, Sweden.
Jones has also a wide experience as a concert soloist, frequently giving concerts all around the Scandinavian countries, singing chamber music as well as orchestral and sacred repertoire. Outside of Scandinavia she has performed in England, Slovenia, Germany, Albania, and France. Beginning January 2007, Jones will be contracted at the Gothenburg Opera in Sweden.
Soprano KLAUDIA KIDON is originally from Poland, where she studied at the Academy of Music in Katowice. She completed her studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and made her professional debut in 1995.
She appears frequently as an oratorio soloist in repertoire which includes Mozart's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, and Górecki's Symphony No. 3. Kidon is a member of the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble as well as Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices.
Soprano BENTE VIST studied at the conservatories in Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. She has sung with the renowned vocal ensemble Ars Nova and the Danish Radio Chorus. Since embarking on a freelance career in 1999 Vist has won recognition as an interpreter of baroque and contemporary music. Several Danish composer have written works for her spectacular high soprano voice. She has appeared on concert platforms in the United States, Australia, Japan, and various European countries.
Music Director PAUL HILLIER, a Grammy Award nominee and the recipient of two Edison Prizes, is active both as a conductor and a singer. His wide musical interests range from medieval to contemporary music and encompass conducting, singing, composing and writing. In recent years Hillier has collaborated with a rich diversity of musicians, including the Kronos Quartet, Bobby McFerrin, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Andrew Lawrence-King, Nigel North, and members of his ensembles Theatre of Voices and the Pro Arte Singers. As a guest conductor he has worked with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra , the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Steve Reich Ensemble, Netherlands Radio Chamber Choir, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Tokyo Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Ensemble Ars Nova (Copenhagen) and the Flemish Radio Chamber Choir.
Recordings: ECM, EMI, Finlandia, Florilegium, Harmonia Mundi, Hat-Art, Hyperion, Meridian, Plant Life, Reflexe, Saga, and UEA