Owen Rees Director

Founded in 1989, A Capella Portuguesa has established an international reputation as a leading vocal ensemble specialising in the performance of music from Golden Age Spain and Portugal. Concerts and recordings reflect path-breaking academic research and centre on repertories performed in the Imperial and Spanish royal chapels, the Portuguese royal chapel in Lisbon, and various other important cathedrals and monasteries. These include works by the well known masters of polyphony such as Victoria, Morales, Guerrero, Cardoso and Duarte Lobo, music by Franco-Flemish composers popularly performed in Spain, including Josquin and Gombert, and newly-discovered masterpieces by lesser known composers whose music has lain dormant in manuscripts for centuries. Concert engagements have taken A Capella Portuguesa to major international festivals in Spain, Portugal, Germany and elsewhere in Europe, besides regular seasonal performances in the UK.

Sample Programme:

Cristóbal de Morales and Music in Imperial Spain. A concert featuring music by Morales, his contemporaries and forebears in Charles V’s Royal Chapel, including Gombert, Crecquillon and other Franco-Flemish renaissance masters in contemporary manuscript sources.

The Song of Songs: Polyphonic masterpieces from Golden Age Spain and Portugal, including music by Victoria, Guerrero, Filipe de Magalhaes and Ceballos.

Education:

Workshops and choral training on application to Owen Rees.

Recordings:

Masters of the Royal Chapel, Lisbon (Hyperion CDA66725); Music from Renaissance Coimbra (Hyperion CDA66735); Holy Week at the Chapel of the Dukes of Braganza (Hyperion CDA66867)

Performances:

Dec 06 Queen’s College, Oxford
Feb 07 Wells Cathedral
Dec 07 Ubeda Festival, Spain

Contact:

Bernadette Nelson, 30 Garston Street, Shepton Mallet BA4 5NW

Tel: 01749 343568/01865 279173

Fax: 01865 790819

Email: owen.rees@queens.ox.ac.uk / bernadette.nelson@wolfson.ox.ac.uk