Coro Cervantes

Coro Cervantes is a unique professional chamber choir. Through its performances it aims to bring the music of Iberian and Latin American countries to audiences who might not have had a chance to enjoy this particular repertoire. It was founded in 1995 by Carlos Fernández Aransay, under the auspices of the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Institute of Culture in London.

Its repertoire spans a wide variety of music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the 20th Century. Programmes offer a range of sacred and secular music and ventures into the traditional popular repertoire of Hispanic countries. Besides a cappella performances, Coro Cervantes is often accompanied by outstanding British instrumentalists: the lutenist and vihuela player Lynda Sayce and the Baroque harpist Frances Kelly. It has also collaborated with distinguished vocal soloists: Nicki Kennedy and Ana Martínez.

Coro Cervantes has also contributed to the international propagation of Hispanic choral music through its performances and research. Its repertoire includes works sung in Spanish (Castilian), Quechua (language of the Incas), Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs), Mediaeval Galician, Catalan, Basque, etc. Lately, it has explored the sacred repertoire of 19th century Spain.

The choir had its inaugural concert at the Spanish Embassy in London in 1996, in the presence of the Spanish Ambassador. Performances at St. James’s, Spanish Place and Colegio Español, London, followed shortly. The latter was recorded by Spanish National Radio. In 1997 a programme was dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the birth of Miguel de Cervantes: Ilkley International Literature Festival and St. Paul’s, Knightsbridge (Spanish Young Musicians), Shakespeare’s Globe Education Centre (Spain and the Stage), Spanish Embassy. 1998 saw performances of two very different programmes: The centenary of the birth of Federico García Lorca (included in the official catalogue of the FGL Foundation) - Instituto Cervantes, London, and St. James’s, Piccadilly, (broadcast by the BBC’s World Service) and The re-shaping of a world, organised by the Spanish Embassy to commemorate 400 years of the death of Philip II of Spain - Winchester (with The Historical Association of Great Britain), St. John’s, Smith Square (British premiere of the Missa Philippus Rex Hispaniae, by Bartolomé de Escobedo) and Exeter College, Oxford. In October 1998 Coro Cervantes performed at the XXVI International Festival of Guanajuato, Mexico; other sell-out concerts took place at Celaya, in aid of Save the Children Foundation, and Irapuato, at the Festival Cervantes en todas partes. In December, 1998 Coro Cervantes sang for diplomatic representatives of all Latin American and Iberian embassies in a gala concert at the Venezuelan Embassy to aid the victims of Hurricane Mitch. In May 1999 Coro Cervantes performed at St. Etheldreda’s, London, to honour the patron Saint of Spain, St. James, in Saint James's last jubilee of the millennium. In January 2000 we were at Peterborough Cathedral to commemorate the burial of Catherine of Aragon. Recent performances include the International Mediaeval Congress in Leeds and the II International Festival of Iberian and Latin American Music, Moscow. In 2003 we performed in Spain at Valladolid's Festival "Las piedras cantan" and in 2004 we sang in Salamanca (Cultural Capital of Europe Festival).In 2006 we celebrated at the Wigmore Hall the 10th anniversary of our debut, and in 2008 we offered the choral output of Enrique Granados at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

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