Ars Nova Singers is an auditioned vocal ensemble specializing in a cappella music of the Renaissance and the 20th/21st centuries. Since its founding in 1986, this Denver Metro Area icon has been recognized as one of the nation’s most intrepid professional choirs, bringing together 40 gifted vocalists to tackle challenging, time-traveling works that stretch the boundaries of sound and spirit.
Close your eyes, open your ears, and let your spirit soar… a magnificent collection of voices…
Westword “The Best of Denver”
Ars Nova’s mission is to delight, inspire, and enlighten audiences with choral music of the highest artistic quality. By seeking out composers and collaborators that probe and often defy choral conventions, Ars Nova displays its courageous aural aesthetic through live performances, innovative digital content, national and international tours, educational programming, and award-winning recordings, both on its own label and with internationally acclaimed artists including Bill Douglas and David Darling. The ensemble has presented over 400 performances of more than 100 unique programs, and has received national recognition for its innovative programming and collaborations.
Recent projects include Made Real, featuring the Colorado premiere of Door Out of the Fire by Christopher Theophanidis, featuring guitarist Nicolò Spera (June 2022); Made Fragile, featuring music by Reena Esmail and Gabriel Fauré (April 2022); Wonder, featuring the late madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo (November 2022); and several creative pandemic-inspired video projects including one featuring Ars Nova’s performance of Will Todd’s jazz-infused Mass in Blue.
Past programming highlights include two productions in Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium and two collaborations with Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Company. Other memorable collaborators: legendary jazz percussionist Jerry Granelli; internationally acclaimed violinist Edward Dusinberre; the Colorado Saxophone Quartet; the renowned Kronos Quartet; Third Law dance company; the Boulder Philharmonic; the Colorado Music Festival; and the Colorado Mahlerfest.
The ensemble has produced seven Colorado Composer Competitions, inspiring the creation of new choral music by Colorado composers. Winning composers have ranged from a 3rd grade student in Boulder Valley Schools to high school students from across the state to professional composers. In 2016 and 2019 (and scheduled for reprise in 2024), Ars Nova has presented Shared Visions, an interdisciplinary project bringing together Colorado visual artists, poets, and composers, building a community of artistic inspiration and culminating in a performance of new choral music.
Ars Nova Singers has been heard in radio broadcasts throughout the world, including such National Public Radio programs as Performance Today, The First Art, Music from the Hearts of Space, and locally on Colorado Spotlight and Colorado Matters. Ars Nova has released ten independent recordings on compact disc and performed on seven internationally released recordings with Boulder composer and instrumentalist Bill Douglas.