Voces Suaves (CH)

Lia Andres (soprano)
Mirjam Berli (soprano)
Gabriel Jublin (alto)
Jan Thomer (alto)
Matthias Deger (tenor)
Ivo Haun (tenor)
Davide Benetti (bass)
Tobias Wicky (bass)
Francesco Saverio Pedrini (artistic director, harpsichord)

The Basle-based vocal ensemble Voces Suaves performs as a group of soloists focusing on music of the Renaissance and Baroque era. Grounded in the knowledge of historical context and the languages of the works performed, the ensemble strives for a warm and full overall sound, so that the music, inspired by sincere emotion, goes straight to the heart.

The baritone, Tobias Wicky founded the ensemble in 2012. The core of the ensemble consists of nine professional singers under the direction of Francesco Saverio Pedrini, most of them alumni of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Depending on the programme, the cast varies and instrumentalists are added as required.

Mutual friendship and intense cooperation have drawn the members of the ensemble together and led to an intimate musical exchange throughout the creative process.

Since 2013, Voces Suaves have been part of “Le Capitali della Musica”, a concert series based in Zürich, Switzerland, initiated by Pedrini. In line with its name, the programme features the works of the major composers in different musical centres, i.e. capitals of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque period. Those schools of music were seminal for the musical development of the time and exercised a significant impact on contemporary composers throughout Europe. Thanks to the cooperation of the ensemble’s musical director with two highly specialised musicologists, the series’ programmes also showcase recent musicological research discoveries. Past programmes, for instance, included a wide repertoire of madrigals by Monteverdi, de Wert, Marenzio and Gesualdo, as well as sacred works by the musical directors of San Petronio in Bologna, and even the first Switzerland performance of the oratorio “Il dialogo del Noé” composed by Giacomo Carissimi.

Voces Suaves was invited to participate in the 2014 residency programme “Jeunes Ensembles du CCR d’Ambronay”. In 2015 it was selected to participate in the “eeemerging” (emerging European ensembles), a European support programme for young ensembles. In this context, the ensemble performs a residency at the Haendel Festival in Göttingen and at the Seviqc Brežice in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Francesco Saverio Pedrini

Born and raised in a family of musicians, organist, harpsichordist, répétiteur and conductor, Francesco Saverio Pedrini, completed his organ diploma with Francesco Tasini in Parma, followed by studies with Andrea Marcon and Jean-Claude Zehnder at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he also graduated with distinction. Laureate of international organ competitions in Bruge and Borca di Cadore, he performed as soloist and ensemble member with a number of orchestras in Europe, the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. Since 2007 he is répétiteur of the opera class of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In 2006 Pedrini founded the Academia Organistica di Parma and the Festival Internazionale Organistico della Città di Parma. Since 2012 he is the artistic director of Voces Suaves and of the project Le Capitali della Musica.