PAST
Discovery Day
As part of a longstanding collaboration with artist Hans Rosenström, singers from Echo took part in a unique creative process to bring together a devised piece which will be used as an installation at the 2025 Helsinki Biennial.
We invited Friends to observe our final day of recording in North London to see how we created a piece collectively, inspired by the glade on Vallisaari Island where the recording will be installed.
21 MARCH 2025
STUDIO 7 MUSIC, LONDON

A Night of Snow
Echo Vocal Ensemble took their winter programme featuring seasonal music from across the world to the beautiful setting of Faversham Assembly Rooms in Kent.
ASSEMBLY ROOMS
FAVERSHAM, KENT
Innocence
Echo Vocal Ensemble took
'Innocence', a programme celebrating the launch of their debut recording, to Berkshire’s Douai Abbey And Barnsley’s The Lightbox. A
bold collection of stunning music exploring innocence and its loss, with music by Purcell, Hildegard of Bingen and Palestrina alongside folk song and improvisation, all presented in Echo's unique style.
DOUAI ABBEY, BERKSHIRE
THE LIGHTBOX, BARNSLEY
Wigmore Hall: Debut Concert

Echo made their Wigmore Hall debut with “Innocence”, a bold collection of stunning music exploring innocence and its loss, with Ravel's virtuosic "Trois Chansons” at its centre.
WIGMORE HALL, LONDON
Tweyanze!
A unique collaboration between Echo Vocal Ensemble and British Ugandan duo Denis Muggaga and Danny Sewagudde. In a joyful collision and celebration of British and Ugandan culture, the two groups joined forces to explore traditional music both from Uganda and from the British Isles

Tweyanze workshop
Conductor Sarah Latto and the Ganda Boys took audiences on an inspiring, fun and uplifting journey in this singing workshop. The group learnt about traditional Ugandan music and experienced the infectious joy of a cappella music.
Sweet Disharmony
We took our Sweet Disharmony programme to Swaledale Festival, to explore the searing beauty of dissonant harmony in sacred music, from the genius of William Byrd and Henry Purcell right through to contemporaries Roxanna Panufnik and James MacMillan.

When David Heard
The second date on Echo’s Scotland Tour took the group to the University of Glasgow’s stunning memorial chapel, for a performance featuring music by Robert Ramsey alongside contemporary composers.
When David Heard
Echo visited Scotland for the first time in a performance featuring little known but stunning music by 17th century composer Robert Ramsey, juxtaposed by pieces by contemporary Scottish and English composers, all presented in Echo’s unique style.

Open Rehearsal
Echo offered audiences the chance to explore music of the 17th century Scottish born composer Robert Ramsey in an Open Rehearsal in the stunning surrounds of Glasgow Cathedral. A chance to discover new music and delve into the detail of a professional choral rehearsal.
Ne
Foundation Futures Ceremony
A performance of John Barber’s music at the Foundation Futures Awards Ceremony, celebrating his win as part of the Arts Foundation Awards which led him to collaborate with Echo on his debut album.
PURCELL ROOM
SOUTHBANK CENTRE, LONDON
Sweet Disharmony
Echo returned to the stunning setting of North Yorkshire's Birdsall House in a programme celebrating the searing beauty of dissonant harmony in sacred music, from the genius of William Byrd and Henry Purcell right through to contemporaries Roxanna Panufnik and James MacMillan.
25 NOV 2023
BIRDSALL HOUSE, MALTON
Bat Sounding
As part of our focus on bats and echolocation this year, we invite Cambridge Residents to join a session with the Bat Choir, exploring what it is like to communicate in a “bat-like” way. This workshop begins with simple vocal exercises and scores for deep listening on Jesus Green.
We will learn the different calls of bats that live locally in Cambridge, and experiment with strategies for human echolocation. No prior singing experience required!
25 OCT 2023
JESUS GREEN, CAMBRIDGE
Unfolding Silence
Echo collaborated with Finnish artist Hans Rosenström to put together a devised piece inspired by birdsong and developed using improvisation.
The final sound installation exhibited at Frieze Sculpture Exhibition in Regent’s Park, London in autumn 2023. The work offered an intimate place for listening, inviting listeners to experience a glade in the park in a new way.
20 SEP - 29 OCT 2023
FREE ENTRY
Album Insights
At this special event, Echo presented a showcase of works from their debut album, Innocence. Music included:
O nobilissima viriditas - Hildegard von Bingen
Hymne à la Vierge - Pierre Villette
Trois Chansons - Maurice Ravel
Nesciens Mater - Jean Mouton
‘Why did you separate me from the earth’ - ANOHNI
8 OCT2023
LONDON
Latitude Festival
Echo went to Latitude Festival in Suffolk for a series of workshops and pop-up performances. We performed as part of ROOST, an artist collective that was in residency at Trailer Park, an area of the festival in the woods at Henham park.

20-23 JULY 2023
HENHAM PARK, SUFFOLK
Unfolding Silence
Three studio days spent working with Finnish artist Hans Rosenström on birdsong-inspired improvised soundscapes.
STOKE NEWINGTON, LONDON
JULY 2023
Ensemble in Residence: Radley College
Echo were ensemble-in-residence at Radley College in Oxfordshire in June, presenting performances for students in Abingdon. As part of the project, we reached 400 local KS2 students and got every audience to perform with us in a programme of music featuring Meredith Monk,
RADLEY COLLEGE
JUNE 2023
Brighton College Autograph Concert Series
Echo took a flagship programme to Brighton's stunning Sarah Abraham Recital Hall, featuring music from the 12th century to the present day, with pieces by Hildegard of Bingen, William Byrd, and Maurice Ravel right through to improvisation and folksong
BRIGHTON COLLEGE
APRIL 2023
Broken Chord
A colleboration with choreographer
Gregory Maqoma at Sadlers Wells
Echo collaborated on 'Broken Chord', a performance piece moving between concert, dance and performance, which retold the story of the first African choir to perform in Great Britain and the US in the late 19th century.
SADLERS WELLS, LONDON
17 & 18 MARCH 2023
Echo Sounding: A Performance
March 2023
Hypha Studios, London
A performance inspired by the echolocative strategies of different British bat species. Curated in collaboration with the artists Hermione Spriggs and Harsha Balasubramanian, as part of 'BEHOLD - a group show about touch' at Hypha Studios, London
Visitors were invited to become participants in the show, encouraged to behold artworks through a collaborative multi-sensory tour designed by artists, writers and academics, who were either blind, visually impaired or sighted. BEHOLD sought to help reframe access to art by disrupting the hierarchies of perception and art education, by providing unusual and playful ways of experiencing artworks – beyond the visual and with the effect of heightening other senses.
Echo Sounding
A Voice and Listening workshop Feb 2023
As part of our focus on bats and echolocation, Echo Vocal Ensemble director Sarah Latto and artist and anthropologist Hermione Spriggs curated a workshop in deep listening, inspired by the echolocative strategies of different British bat species.
Chas
CHASING THE NIGHT
midwinter songs
Following one winter solstice as it unfolded across the Northern hemisphere, Echo's winter tour 2022 featured songs from five continents, exploring the unique blend of folklore, religion, magic and tradition that midwinter brings.
Alongside traditional carols, the ensemble explored the magic of pieces by Poulenc, Britten and Rachmaninov and vocal music from Canada and Iceland. As part of the tour, Echo were joined by some very special guests: Danny Sewagudde and Denis Muggaga, who make up the British-Ugandan duo Ganda Boys. They are acclaimed for bringing a fresh sound to traditional Ugandan songs with a combination of English and Lugandan lyrics alongside their joyful brand of performance.
KINGS PLACE, LONDON
15 DECEMBER
BIRDSALL HOUSE, YORK
19 DECEMBER
NIGHT MUSIC
A recording project with Bristol-based composer John Barber, recording an E.P. of his music for voices, exploring themes of darkness and night-time.
THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER, LONDON
FUTURE SOUNDS
Echo worked with young
composers at the Royal
College of Music Junior
Department to create a
concert of world premieres
for vocal ensemble.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC, LONDON
SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER
LONDON WORKSHOP - ECHO/GANDA BOYS
WORKSHOP 27.07.22
Echo have been working with Ugandan-born artists Danny Sewagudde and Denis Muggaga throughout 2022 in a number of recordings and videos.
We held a joint workshop in Bethnal Green, London on Wednesday 27th July, in which singers learnt more about Ugandan traditional music and our collaboration, and sang with the group.
RAGNAR KJARTANSSON: THE SKY IN A ROOM
EXHIBITION 25.06.2022–03.07.2022
Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson draws on the histories of film, music, theatre, visual culture and literature to develop video installations, durational performances, drawing and painting.
This project, a collaboration with Ikon Gallery (Birmingham) and Artes Mundi (Cardiff), involved singers taking turns to perform an ethereal arrangement of ‘Il cielo in una stanza’, the famous song by Gino Paoli, originally released in 1960. Accompanied by the church organ, the piece was repeated, uninterruptedly, for five hours a day for several days, like a never-ending lullaby.
The performance took place at St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden, the place where singer-songwriter Nick Drake is buried. That English church, in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, was the third setting for The Sky in a Room, following on from the Church of San Carlo al Lazzaretto, Milan (2020) and the National Museum Cardiff (2018).
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Performance times, 2-7pm every day.
VENUE
St Mary Magdalene
Tanworth-in-Arden, B94 5AL
ECHO
ROGER MCGOUGH
AMINITA FRANCIS
Hoxton, London, April 2022
This programme was put together in celebration of Echo's fifth anniversary. Cross-disciplinary art is a passion of ours, and for our birthday, we wanted to invite two of our favourite past collaborators to rejoin us in a collision of music and words.
Roger McGough is an award-winning poet, playwright, broadcaster and author of over a hundred books of poetry for adults and children. He has been described as ‘The godfather of modern British poetry’ by the Metro and the ‘The patron saint of poetry’ by Carol Ann Duffy.
Multi-talented musician and theatre-maker Aminita Francis is one of the co-creators behind BAC Beatbox Academy’s phenomenally successful Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster.
Echo's performance alongside these two incredible artists explored the ways in which spoken words and sung words can be combined, with music from the 16th century to the present day by Orlande de Lassus, Robert Ramsey, Undine Smith Moore and James MacMillan alongside improvisation and folksong.
MESSIAH 250
Saturday 5th March 2022, St Swithin's Church, Bath
Messiah 250 was a project that brought together communities in Bath through music and celebrated the history of Bath’s association with Handel’s ‘Messiah’. It was a collaboration between Echo Vocal Ensemble, Paragon Singers, historian Andrew Clarke and theatre director Tom Guthrie. Following an extended and in-depth exploration series of workshops and rehearsals over the course of several months, Messiah 250 culminated in a large-scale concert staging at St Swithin’s Church in Bath.
This project formed a major part of the academic course for film students at Bath Spa University. They documented the workshop and rehearsal process, creating a film which will be free for audiences to view.
As part of the 4-month project, Echo helped run a series of singing workshops throughout Bath, including free workshops for young people in the city and, in partnership with charity Julian House, for homeless and vulnerable people living in Bath.
12 Days of Christmas
We repeated our popular '12 Days of Christmas' project in December 2021. In collaboration with The Gesualdo Six and The Swan Consort, 12 Days offered the gift of music to loved ones with 12 seasonal performances, delivered directly to the recipients' inbox from 25th December- 6th January.
Already Gone - December 2nd, Lancaster Priory
This performance, our first in Lancaster, was a programme of old and new music about nature and the climate emergency. From Benjamin Britten’s beautiful setting of ‘Five Flower Songs’ to ANOHNI’s call to arms, the programme celebrated natures abundance whilst warning of future scarcity.
Joy and Devotion - 5th November, London
We sang at the iconic venue of London's St Martin in the Fiel for the first time in November 2021.
We presented a stunning programme of old and new music from Poland, from 16th century masterpieces to music by brilliant contemporary composers Aleksandra Chmielewska, Roxanna Panufnik and Ania Rocławska-Musiałczyck
Our concert concluded the 'Joy and Devotion' festival, which spanned three days and featured performances by incredible colleagues Tenebrae and The Gesualdo Six.
Music at the Polish Court - 4th November, Cambridge
Echo visited Cambridge to perform a concert exploring the work of composers living in Warsaw and Krakow in the 16th and 17th Centuries, featuring Gorczycki’s masterful Missa Paschalis as its centrepiece.
Nordic Giants, 23rd October, Buckinghamshire
Echo performed at ECHOR Orchestra's inaugural concert, Nordic Giants, where the audience was immersed in the sounds of the wonderful world of Grieg and Sibelius, amongst other Nordic friends.
21 extraordinary string players brought music to life in atmospheric and unique surroundings, while an octet of singers from Echo Vocal Ensemble performed music by Sibelius, þorkell Sigurbjörnsson and Anna Þorvaldsdóttir.
After the hour long orchestral performance, audiences enjoyed a relaxed folk session from some of the best folk musicians in the country!
Saturday 25th September - St Paul's, Winchester
We took our 'The Flight of Song' programme to the stunning setting of St. Paul's, Winchester, on Saturday 25th September. The programme featured pieces with texts that celebrate music, from Biblical psalms through to 18th-century poetry and soulful pop lyrics from the 70s.
The concert featured Benjamin Britten's masterful 'Hymn to St Cecilia' as its centrepiece, alongside pieces by Claudio Monteverdi, Judith Weir, Roberta Flack and Orlande de Lassus.

Claudio Monteverdi - Cantate Domino (1620)
Orlando Lassus - Musica Dei Donum (1604)
Bernard Rose - Feast Song for St. Cecilia (1975)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Exultate deo (1584)
Howard Skempton - The Flight of Song (2005)
Cecilia McDowall - Now may we singen (2013)
Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord - arr. Undine Smith Moore (1952)
Improvisation on Bobby McFerrin - Circlesong no.4 (1997)
Henry Purcell - Hush, no more (from Fairy Queen, 1692)
Improvisation on 'Killing me softly' - Roberta Flack (1973)
Benjamin Britten - Hymn to St.Cecilia (1942)
Judith Weir - My Guardian Angel (1997)
In 2021, Echo toured a stunning programme of old and new music about nature and the climate emergency. From Benjamin Britten's beautiful setting of Five Flower Songs to ANOHNI's call to arms, the programme took listeners on a journey that both celebrated nature's abundance and warned of future scarcity.
The series began in London with a workshop and Q&A featuring the five shortlisted composers, before a series of three concerts reaching some of the UK's biggest cities: London, Manchester and Birmingham.
The Already Gone Tour was a Genesis Kickstart Fund project, supported by the Genesis Foundation. It was also made possible thanks to the Golsoncott Foundation, RVW Trust and The London Community Foundation: Cockayne - Grants for the Arts.
THE IMPROVISATION INITIATIVE
Creating sound 'in the moment' should be one of the most basic musical skills, and yet improvisation is very rarely taught or encouraged for singers of any kind.
Echo ran a series focused on this art form, exploring its use historically in music by composers like Claudio Monteverdi and Henry Purcell, and showing how we can use those techniques in our music making today.
The three-week course aimed to show audience that improvisation within an ensemble singing setting is a joyful and accessible art form. The series culminated in an hour long HD broadcast performance by Echo.
December '20 to Jan '21: 12 DAYS
Our collaborative project 12 Days was a partnership with Ryedale Festival, The Gesualdo Six and The Swan Consort.
. The series was filmed in the splendour of Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, and delivered an HD performance to the recipients inbox daily between 25 December - 6 January.
Oct 2020
Echo INTERACTIVE
We ran an INTERACTIVE series of free online events in autumn 2020 for an online audience to take part in! With thanks to Arts Council England for their support in bringing this programme to you.
Click here for videos and more info.
KITCHEN SESSIONS
In a direct response to the first national lockdown in 2020, Echo spent a socially-distanced day filming in an intimate home setting, and talking about the music in relation to some of the most relevant topics of 2020.
- Bruckner’s Locus Iste, plus analysis and a discussion on the western classical canon and its relevance
- Improvisation on Nobody Knows, plus a discussion on COVID-19 and its effect on mental health
- Excerpt from Privilege by Hearne plus a discussion on Black Lives Matter and the classical music industry
echo presents: EXILE
On Friday 22nd September 2017 at St. James Church , Paddington , and on Saturday 23rd September at the Thames Tunnel Shaft , Brunel Museum , Rotherhithe , echo delivered two performances of a programme titled EXILE - exploring political and emotional exile, displacement and migration. The concert featured music from the 12th century to the present day, including pieces by William Byrd, Phillippe de Monte and Pedro de Cristo, and the UK Premiere of ' songs of sorrow ' by Sheena Phillips . The concerts also incorporated theatrical use of the performance space, particularly for the performance at the Thames Tunnel Shaft, Rotherhithe , which was staged by Movement Director, Rebecca Meltzer.
Sounds Sublime
Debut Sounds: New Musick
