fot. Tom Blaton

17 November 2019 (Sunday) 8:00 pm

Vox Luminis (Belgium)

concert

Our Lady of Victory Church, ul. Łąkowa 40

phot. Tom Blaton

Vox Luminis

Vox Luminis was established 15 years ago; today, the ensemble uses its sparkling traits to enhance the world of early music! The push was made in 2004 by Lionel Meunier - bass and founding base of Vox Luminis. The objective is to gain access to the Light through the Voice. Every year, the ensemble releases on average two discs and offers its audience more than 60 concerts on Belgian, European and international stages.

They define themselves as a group of soloists with a variable combination (with a base from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague) and of a continuo, additional instrumentalists or a full orchestra, depending on the repertoire. The repertoire is essentially Italian, English and German and spans the 16th through the 18th centuries. Since its creation, the ensemble has been noted for its cohesion and it charms with the personality of every timbre and the homogeneity of the voices.

Today, Vox Luminis can count thirteen recordings to its name, it has won many awards including the prestigious Gramophone Recording of the Year 2012, for Musicalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz. The latest releases from Alpha Classics and Ricercar are King Arthur by Purcell and Kantaten by the Bach-family. The year 2018 was marked by two awards: first, Vox Luminis won the famous BBC Music Magazine AWARD 2018 in the category "Choral Award Winner" following the disc Luther et la Musique de la Réforme. Second, KLARA named them "ensemble of the year".

“The refinement of Vox Luminis is never anything less than sublime.”
Gramophone, 04/2014
David Vickers

“Vox Luminis, made up of soloists, “se distingue par la pureté de son émission, la fraîcheur des voix, la dynamique et la mise en place, d’une rare perfection. Ses qualités d’expression, oùla simplicité, la ferveur le disputent à la gravité et à l’enthousiasme illustrent admirablement ce répertoire exigeant.”
Forumopera, 08/2018
Yvan Beuvard

“Vox Luminis live up to their name by providing refreshingly light vocal performances which seem to shimmer and glow.”
Musicweb, 05/2017
Simon Thompson

The ensemble is supported by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the City of Namur and Namur Confluent Culture and is recognised by the Art and Life tours.

phot. Robert Buckland

Lionel Meunier
Artistic Director

Lionel Meunier is musician and singer, and founder of Vox Luminis, early music vocal ensemble (2004). He is conductor and artistic director for Vox Luminis and ensures its international reputation.

Being passionate about music from a very young age, he started his musical education in the city of Clamecy (France) with the trumpet, recorder and solfege. Lionel then continued his studies at Institut Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie (the Superior Institute of Music and Pedagogy - IMEP) in Namur where he earned his degree in recorder with great distinction. He took classes from Tatiana Babut du Mares and Hugo Reyne and masterclasses with Jean Tubéry.

He then focused his attention on vocal studies with Rita Dams and Peter Kooij at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (NL). At the same time, he started a career as a concert musician; he was soon in great demand as a soloist and he joined prestigious ensembles like Collegium Vocale Ghent (P. Herreweghe), World Youth Choir, Arsys Bourgogne (P. Cao), Amsterdam Baroque Choir (T. Koopmann), the Chamber Choir of Namur, the Favoriti de la Fenice (J. Tubéry), the Soloists of the Chamber Choir of Namur, Cappella Pratensis (S. Bull) and the soloists of the Dutch Bach Vereniging (J. Van Veldhoven).

Over the past few years, Lionel Meunier has been increasingly in demand from many ensembles throughout Europe as coach, conductor and artistic leader. His passionate yet thoughtful approach to the early music and a capella repertoire, combined with the understanding of and respect for the singers, has allowed him to achieve progressively ever-higher standards. Moreover, he is jury member for many international festivals and competitions.

In 2013, Lionel Meunier was given the title of Namur Person of the Year for Culture.

Just as mindful about education, Lionel and Vox Luminis regularly offer masterclasses, coaching sessions and conferences on the repertoire from the end of the Renaissance period and from the Baroque period.

phot. Tom Blaton

Programme

BACH Johann “Unser Leben ist ein Schatten”
BACH Johann “Sei nun wieder zufrieden meine Seele”
BACH Johann Michael “Herr, ich warte auf dein Heil”
BACH Johann Michael “Sei Lieber Tag Wilkommen”
BACH Johann Michael “Nun Treten wir ins neue Jahr”
BACH Johann Michael “Halt was du hast”
BACH Johann Christoph “Der Mensch von Weibe”
BACH Johann Christoph “Fürchte dich nicht”
BACH Johann Christoph “Lieber Herr Gott”
BACH Johann Ludwig “Das Blut Jesu Christi”

break

BACH Johann Ludwig “Das ist meine Freude”
BACH Johann Sebastian “Jesu Meine Freude”