The Sixteen announces its North America 2024 tour ‘The Deer’s Cry’

• The Sixteen embark on first major North America tour in nearly 20 years in celebration ahead of Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday in 2025

• Eight performances across North America including: Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, New York and Connecticut

• Programme explores a range of music from William Byrd and Arvo Pärt, including six works from Byrd’s Cantiones Sacrae and Pärt’s Nunc dimittis

In October 2024, The Sixteen, one of the world’s leading choral ensembles, will return to North America with its tour of The Deer’s Cry for the choir’s first international tour on the continent since 2005. Conducted by their founder, Harry Christophers CBE, The Sixteen will perform at eight venues across Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, New York and Connecticut

The tour explores the works of two masters of sacred music, Arvo Pärt and William Byrd. Though composing centuries apart, the programming brings together two composers who both faced considerable persecution for their work - William Byrd, a catholic, living in post-Reformation England and Arvo Pärt born in the former soviet republic of Estonia.

The tour also falls in between two major anniversaries for both composers, with Arvo Part’s 90th birthday occurring in the autumn of 2025. This follows on from The Sixteen’s major celebrations of William Byrd’s 400th anniversary last year.

The Sixteen presents six of William Byrd’s works from Cantiones Sacrae including the monumental Tribue, Domine, and the mighty eight-voice motet Ad Dominum cum tribularer. The complex polyphony of Byrd is paired alongside the simple beauty of Arvo Pärt’s contemporary choral music, with The Sixteen showcasing Pärt’s seamless blend of ancient and modern styles in performances of The Deer’s Cry and The woman with the alabaster box.

The programme also includes Arvo Pärt’s mesmerising Nunc dimittis which is crafted in his bell-like ‘tinitinnabuli’ style and explores the connection between the choral triad ringing and the silence which follows.

Looking ahead to their 2024 North America tour, founder and conductor of The Sixteen Harry Christophers, says: “Byrd and Pärt, though centuries apart, share a powerful spiritual depth that resonates with us today. This tour brings their music together, highlighting Byrd's intricate polyphony and Pärt's serene simplicity. It's a journey through sacred soundscapes, and we're excited to share it with North American audiences.”

Programme:

Byrd Diliges Dominum

Byrd Christe qui lux es et dies

Pärt The Deer’s Cry

Byrd Emendemus in Melius

Pärt the woman with the alabaster box

Byrd Miserere mihi Domine

Byrd Ad Dominum cum tribularer

Tallis / Byrd Miserere nostri

Pärt Nunc Dimittis

Byrd Laetentur coeli

Byrd Tribue Domine