amarcord

amarcord is a German male classical vocal ensemble based in Leipzig, founded in 1992 by five former members of the Thomanerchor. They primarily perform Medieval music, Renaissance music as well as collaborating with contemporary composers.

The ensemble attended masterclasses with the Hilliard Ensemble and the King's Singers. In 2000 they were granted a scholarship from the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council, a member of the International Music Council) and were named to the Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler, which recognized young professional musicians and provides financial support for their concert engagements. They have appeared at international festivals and undertaken tours of Europe, North America, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia.

The first half of their concert programs is typically devoted to sacred music, while the second half shows secular music. In their first concert at the Rheingau Musik Festival on 29 August 2002 they stepped in for Chanticleer and performed in the Unionskirche, Idstein. Their concerts programs usually concentrate on a theme.

In 2009 they participated in a performance and live recording of Bach's lost Markus-Passion, in the reconstructed version by Dietmar Hellmann and Andreas Glöckner.

In 1997 the singers initiated an annual international summer festival in Leipzig for a cappella vocal music, the International Festival for Vocal Music "a cappella", where a wide variety of guest ensembles such as the Swingle Singers, the Huelgas Ensemble, the ensemble Chanticleer and The Real Group have appeared.

The ensemble amarcord won prizes at competitions in Tolosa, Spain (1995, Second Prize, Profane), Tampere (1999, Joint Third Prize), and the 1st Choir Olympiad in Linz (2000). In 2002 the ensemble won the German music competition Deutscher Musikwettbewerb and in 2004 the prize of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Music Festival of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).

The ensemble won the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) of the Contemporary A Cappella Society several times, first in 2002 for their album Hear the voice.

In 2006 they won the CARA in the categories "Best classical album" with Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland and also the second prize with Incessament, they won in the category "Best classical song" with Sanctus Incessament and second prize with Sic Deus Dilexit.

In 2010 their album Rastlose Liebe won the CARA in the category "Best classical album". In 2012 they were awarded the Echo Klassik Awards in the category "Ensemble of the year, vocal music" for their Album Das Lieben bringt groß' Freud!. Wikipedia