Skylark
The small vocal ensemble Skylark is noted for innovative programs of choral pieces that place the music in unusual and revealing contexts. The group has earned critical plaudits not only in the U.S. but also in Britain and beyond.
Founded in 2011, the group has roots in Atlanta and Boston and has continued to perform often in both cities. It was established by conductor Matthew Guard, a business executive who was not a career musical professional; as an undergraduate at Harvard University, however, he had been director of one of the school's a cappella vocal ensembles, the Krokodiloes. Hoping to recapture the excitement of collegiate group singing, he gathered a group of friends for weekend rehearsals. As the group developed, he began to research choral repertoire and to put works together into programs in an unusual way, often commissioning a new piece that would tie a program together.
Skylark has performed widely in the U.S., in museums and churches, as well as in concert halls. The group released its debut album, Forgotten Dreams, in 2014 and was signed to the Sono Luminus label. Its 2016 release Crossing Over featured pieces depicting the end of life. From a base membership of 16 singers, Skylark may expand or contract according to the repertory involved and may take on instrumentalists, but it has focused on chamber vocal repertory. In 2016, the group performed Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil at Atlanta's Spivey Hall, but most of its programs and recordings consist of short pieces combined in unusual ways. An example was its 2017 tour program Clear Voices in the Dark, which included Poulenc's difficult, double-choir, 12-voice work Figure humaine, joined to American Civil War songs.
In 2018, Skylark made its first appearance outside the U.S., at St. John's Smith Square, London, joining the choir Tenebrae's Holy Week Festival and earning designation as "the cream of the American crop" from a BBC Radio 3 presenter. Skylark's 2017 holiday release, Winter's Night, was organized around music of Hugo Distler, and its 2018 album, Seven Words from the Cross, with music ranging from the American colonial period to Iceland to Estonia, included works setting Jesus Christ's final words in one way or another. The latter album was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance and Best Immersive Audio Album. The group has kept up frequent album releases on its own Skylark Vocal Ensemble label, including Once Upon a Time (2020) and It's a Long Way (2021); the latter, which addressed the coronavirus pandemic, included music ranging from Irish traditional song to Josquin to Arvo Pärt. Skylark maintains a busy schedule of educational appearances at U.S. colleges and high schools. The group returned in 2022 with mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker in Benedict Sheehan: A Christmas Carol, a musical adaptation of Dickens' holiday novella.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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