The Tallis Scholars are a British vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers.
Formed in 1973 by their director Peter Phillips, they specialise in performing a cappella sacred vocal music written during the Renaissance by composers from all over Europe. They are currently recognised as one of the world-leaders in this field, having risen to a place of prominence among other professional ensembles.
They record widely on their own label, Gimell Records, which has world-wide distribution and some 50 releases, covering a repertoire from over 150 years of music history (approximately the years 1450–1600). They tour widely, including to America at least twice a year and Japan at least once every two years.
They are well known among music lovers and academics alike and have paved the way for many younger groups such as The Sixteen, The Cardinall's Musick, The Clerks, The Binchois Consort, Trinity Baroque, the Gabrieli Consort, and Octarium.
Various members of the group have scholarly interests on top of their activities as professional musicians. Phillips has published a scholarly text (English Sacred Music 1549–1649, London: Gimell Records, 1991). Sally Dunkley, Francis Steele, and Deborah Roberts are all active as music editors and publishers with interests spanning the Renaissance and early Baroque. Andrew Gant is also organist at the Chapel Royal.
In 2000 the group established the Tallis Scholars Summer Schools, a program providing amateur singers and promising young professionals the opportunity to be coached by Phillips and other members of the ensemble in their specialist repertoire. The program now includes three courses which take place in Oakham in the United Kingdom, Seattle in the United States, and Sydney in Australia.
Famous quotes containing the word scholars:
“Scholars and artists thrown together are often annoyed at the puzzle of where they differ. Both work from knowledge; but I suspect they differ most importantly in the way their knowledge is come by. Scholars get theirs with conscientious thoroughness along projected lines of logic; poets theirs cavalierly and as it happens in and out of books. They stick to nothing deliberately, but let what will stick to them like burrs where they walk in the fields.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)