MONTEVERDI CHOIR OPEN THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL AND PRESENT ‘SING TO THE LORD A NEW SONG’ WITH THE ENGLISH BAROQUE SOLOISTS AS JONATHAN SELLS IS APPOINTED THE CHOIR’S NEW CHOIR DIRECTOR
Jonathan Sells – credit: Paul Marc Mitchell
The Monteverdi Choir is playing a crucial role in the opening concert of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, performing John Tavener’s monumental The Veil of The Temple. As the central, and only professional choir performing, the Monteverdi Choir is also providing soloists from the Choir and joining other choirs throughout the eight-hour performance. The Monteverdi Choir will be prepared for this epic performance by Jonathan Sells who has been appointed its Choir Director.
Tavener described his eight-hour work involving 250 singers as “the supreme achievement of my life” and it has only been performed once before. The Monteverdi Choir commissioned John Tavener’s The World is Burning in 1993 to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The Monteverdi Choir is back at the Usher Hall two days later for ‘Sing to the Lord a New Song’ featuring a selection of works associated with the Monteverdi Choir by Purcell, Bach and Handel. This concert is conducted by Jonathan Sells and the Choir is joined by the English Baroque Soloists.
As Choir Director, Jonathan Sells will work closely with the artistic planning team and have general oversight of the Choir. He will prepare the Choir for guest conductors and will also conduct concerts himself throughout each season.
The MCO’s chairman Sir David Walker and chief executive Dr Rosa Solinas said:
“Jonathan Sells has long been a treasured member of the MCO family and we’re delighted he’s going to play a more integral role in the Monteverdi Choir’s planning and on-going development. In Jonathan we have a dynamic, adventurous and brilliant musician who will help shape the Choir’s future.”
Jonathan Sells said:
“The Monteverdi Choir has been a cornerstone of my professional life and a guiding star for my ideal of choral excellence. To be able to shape and nourish the work of the Choir as it begins its exciting new chapter is a huge honour. The Choir’s identity is defined by virtuosity, power, superlative commitment to text and language, a kaleidoscopic array of colours and a direct connection to human emotion. These are the values and qualities which I will continue to promote, both when conducting the Choir in concert and when collaborating with other conductors.”
Fresh from celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras have a busy 2025 with concerts that expand its repertoire and conductor collaborations with debuts in some of Europe’s leading venues, as well as returns to La Scala, Milan, the Musikverein in Vienna and its London home, St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival are part of the MCO’s strategy of developing long-term partnerships with a select group of conductors. While projects being developed with these conductors draw upon the MCO’s legacy they are also expanding the ensemble’s repertoire and collaborations.
Before Edinburgh, the English Baroque Soloists will perform Mozart with Marc Minkowski in Vienna and London, and members of the EBS will continue the new strand of unconducted programmes with a dramatised performance of Mozart’s Gran Partita with actor Tama Matheson at the Old Royal Naval College.
Other highlights in 2025 include Bach with Masaaki Suzuki, Schubert with Pablo Heras-Casado, semi-staged Rossini with Jakob Lehmann, Handel with Christophe Rousset and Handel’s Dixit Dominus with Jonathan Sells.
On Good Friday the MCO’s own recording label, Soli Deo Gloria, will release its first new recording since before the global pandemic with Bruckner and Gesualdo recorded live in concert in October 2024 conducted by Jonathan Sells. In the Autumn an album will be released of the MCO’s deep dive into Charpentier with Christophe Rousset that was toured across Europe last December.