16 choirs, 11 countries: Third London International A Cappella Choral Competition

Tom Herring from Sansara receiving the first prize at the
2015 London International A Cappella Competition

Peter Phillips' London International A Cappella Choral Competition returns to St John's Smith Square for the third competition for a week of events from Sunday 25 June 2017 culminating in the final on Saturday 1 July. Sixteen ensembles are taking part, from a remarkable range of countries: the Philippines, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Chile, the Netherlands, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Norway. The choirs each perform before the judges in one of four heats, and each ensemble must perform a piece of Renaissance polyphony, a work by the festival's featured composer Arvo Pärt plus music of the group's own choice.

As well as taking part in the heats, many of the ensembles are giving lunchtime concerts at various venues in London, and there is also the chance to hear music by the competition's featured composer Arvo Pärt with Stephen Layton conducting the Holst Singers and the Gesualdo Six in Arvo Pärt's Passio, and Tom Herring conducting Sansara in Pärt's sacred music. Both Sansara and the Gesualdo Six took part in the 2015 competition, with Sansara taking both the first prize and audience prize (see my review). Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars are also including music by Pärt in their concert alongside Isaac's Missa de Apostolis. There is a screening of Dorian Supin's third documentary film about Arvo Pärt, Even if I lose at the Curzon Cinema Victoria, and a photographic exhibition in the crypt at St John's Smith Square of photos by Kaupo Kikkas, Adams Lament which portray the 2011 recording sessions for Pärt's Adam's Lament.

Full details from the competition website.