The Larks Ascending
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The Larks Ascending is a professional British ensemble of solo voices conducted by Samuel Hayes. Founded in 2006, the soloists are based in Cambridge and specialize in new music by contemporary British composers (such as Jonathan Rathbone and Selwyn Image) and the composers who possibly have influenced them, Parry, Britten and Vaughan Williams for example.
The name "The Larks Ascending" is a play on the title of The Lark Ascending, that lyrical orchestral work with solo violin by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a peculiarly British composer whose legacy would seem to lie at the heart of the ensemble's work. As each concert programme contains at least one piece by a British composer possibly unfamiliar to audiences, The Larks Ascending has an obvious remit, its artistic methodology resembling perhaps the way that Vaughan Williams and his contemporaries collected traditional British music at the beginning of the 20th century.
The ensemble evokes a strong commitment to education, and from its inception has worked closely with schools and younger musicians in a series of workshops and masterclasses. Although not unique in terms of contemporary music-making in Britain, The Larks Ascending would seem to have carved out a niche in which the singers' talents and creativity can be best explored while offering a rare podium for British composers of our times.
