Collegium Vocale Gent
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Collegium Vocale Gent was founded in 1970 by Philippe Herreweghe and fellow students at Ghent University. As pioneers in historically informed performance, they were among the first to apply new Baroque performance practices to vocal music.
The ensemble quickly gained international recognition for its authentic, text-driven and rhetorical approach, marked by a transparent and expressive sound. Today, Collegium Vocale Gent performs worldwide—from Europe and the U.S. to Asia, South America, and Australia—and since 2017, it hosts its own summer festival, Collegium Vocale Crete Senesi, in Tuscany.
Over the years, the group has evolved into a highly versatile ensemble, performing music from the Renaissance to the present. Small formations are used for early music, while its symphonic choir of up to 80 singers tackles Romantic and contemporary oratorios.
The ensemble is especially known for its interpretations of J.S. Bach, performing his vocal works with soloists who also form the chorus. It regularly collaborates with leading period-instrument ensembles such as Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Freiburger Barockorchester, and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as well as major symphony orchestras like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Staatskapelle Dresden.
Collegium Vocale Gent has worked with renowned conductors including Iván Fischer, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, René Jacobs, and Reinbert de Leeuw.
Under Herreweghe’s direction, the ensemble has built a discography of over 100 recordings, mainly on Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics, and more recently on its own label, φ (PHI). Notable recent releases inclde Gesualdo’s Fifth Book of Madrigals (LPH036), Bach Cantatas – Mein Lebens Licht (LPH035), and Liszt’s Via Crucis, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw (ALPHA 390).
