Vox Luminis is a Belgian early music vocal ensemble created in 2004 by Artistic Director Lionel Meunier. The ensemble performs over 60 concerts a year, appearing on stages in Belgium, across Europe and around the world. Since its inception, the ensemble has been defined by its unique sound, appealing as much through the personality of each timbre as it does through the color and the uniformity of the voices. The size and composition of the group depends on the repertoire, with the core of soloists, mostly from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, often joined by additional performers. The repertoire is essentially Italian, English and German and spans from the 16th to the 18th century.
Vox Luminis boasts 12 albums on the labels Alpha Classics, Ricercar, Ramée, and Musique en Wallonie. These recordings have enjoyed international critical acclaim, and have won numerous prizes including the prestigious Gramophone Recording of the Year in 2012 for the Musicalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz.
Vox Luminis has performed extensively at festivals in Belgium, Europe and overseas, and has performed in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, the Oratoire du Louvre in Paris, the Auditoria Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Concertgebouw in Brugge, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht. Residencies for the ensemble have been held at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie-des-Dames, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Concertgebouw in Brugge, the prestigious Festival of Early Music in Utrecht, and the “Musique et Mémoire Festival.” In 2017, the Aldeburgh Festival in England, founded by Benjamin Britten, hosted the ensemble for the first time.
Recent international highlights include performances at the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonics, Arnstadt’s Bachkirche, the Thüringer Bachwochen and the Bachfest Leipzig. 2017 marked the group’s debut in the grand Salle Henry Leboeuf in Brussels, to inaugurate the beginning of a five-year residency. In the coming years, Vox Luminis will also be “huisartiest” at the Concertgebouw in Brugge.
Most recently, the ensemble released recordings of Handel’s Dixit Dominus and J.S. Bach’s Magnificat. In addition to working with its own orchestra, Vox Luminis also frequently collaborates with other internationally renowned ensembles and orchestras. In 2017, such collaborations have included projects with the Franco-Canadian Ensemble Masques and with the Freiburger Barockorchester.
One project, one objective, one path: introduce today’s audiences to early vocal music, passionately conveying its quintessence and touching the light through the voice. Vox Luminis.
Vox Luminis receives support from Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the city of Namur and Namur Confluent Culture and is recognized by the Art and Life Tours.