Ten voices in harmony - Sonance vocal ensemble

The musicians met at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Driven by their passion for a cappella music and a broad repertoire ranging from Renaissance to contemporary literature, they continually explore new soundscapes and invite their audience to experience music as a profound and moving experience. 

In 2023, they founded the vocal ensemble Sonance together with nine other fellow musicians. Where does your love of a cappella singing come from? What is so special about it?

Our former professor at the Mozarteum University, Herbert Böck, was a great promoter of a cappella singing. There was a choir that sang a cappella every week. After he retired, it was very important to us to continue singing together. The lineup has changed, but the ensemble was born out of a desire to make a cappella music. Not all of us are trained singers; some come from instrumental backgrounds, others from solo singing, which is very different from choral singing. A cappella singing creates these incredible moments when you sink deeply into the music. The special thing about singing is that we ourselves are the instrument. When playing an instrument, the instrument makes the sound, but when singing, we feel the music in a completely different way and it is incredibly difficult to achieve this tonal unity from the different voices. What is required is not ten individual voices, but a single sound. A lot of work goes into this and we have to work on this unity again and again. When the sound fits perfectly, very special moments arise that are otherwise very rare in music – it's incredibly beautiful.

How would you describe the “ensemble personality,” the identity of Sonance?

For a vocal ensemble, the many soloists who are part of it are quite special. People who come from a classical singing background often bring a different sound to the table than is usual in the choir scene. I think this gives us a special openness of sound and a special variety of possibilities in terms of style, but also in terms of the listening experience for the audience.

Your website states that you want to “make the versatility and depth of a cappella music accessible to a wide audience.” What does versatility mean in this case?

A cappella singing is the most original form of music-making. In the Middle Ages, there weren't many instruments yet, and that's where vocal polyphony, or polyphonic vocal singing, originated. There is an incredible amount of beautiful music from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. This has continued to evolve over the centuries, resulting in many different possibilities. Our goal is to showcase this range. We always have pieces from different eras and styles in our program and try to combine them. It's not about performing a piece from the 15th century and one from the 21st century, but about showing how similar ideas or texts may have been taken up. In our last program, for example, we performed many works by Heinrich Schütz, i.e., from the 16th/17th century, and a piece from the 20th century that pursues the same idea, building a bridge, so to speak. However, ensemble literature is dependent on the era. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a lot was written for eight-part or four-part choirs. The more modern the music becomes, the more we also fall back on arrangements that have been adapted for us. Our home is classical music, but we also sing music from other genres, such as recently “I Am From Austria” at the Brucknerhaus. We have a very broad repertoire. 

You can also be booked as an ensemble, right?

Yes, of course. When organizers approach us, that's wonderful for us, of course. 

How should we imagine the work in the ensemble? Bringing together ten musicians, some of whom are still studying, but also working and teaching, and developing a broad repertoire—I imagine that's not easy, is it?

It's not easy, but it opens up a lot of possibilities for us. The biggest challenge is always scheduling, planning, and everything else that needs to be done in terms of organization, especially in the early years. We may have underestimated that. We have to take care of marketing and event organization ourselves, and that's also what sets us apart to a certain extent. We don't have a director or conductor; we develop everything ourselves and we are equal partners. Of course, some of us have more experience in certain areas due to our past, and everyone has a different perspective on the pieces. This is a great asset to our group.

How often do you rehearse?

We rehearse regularly, weekly, and even more often for specific projects, of course.

In 2025, the Sonance ensemble won one of the ensemble scholarships advertised at the Mozarteum University. What do such prizes mean to you and what have you been able to achieve with them?

Scholarships and prizes make a lot of things possible, such as freedom in planning or organization. They provide security. They enabled us to finance our Schütz project. And the organizational work involved in marketing, the website, purchasing sheet music, and travel always requires money. This allows you to reach a larger audience and a broader target group. There are also opportunities for support from the state or city of Salzburg, and there are scholarships available from the federal ministry and the EU, but some of these require a lot of work—for example, reporting. Larger submissions require a lot of lead time; the project has to be planned and calculated in detail, and this is often underestimated. No one gives you money and says, “Have fun with it.”

What defines modern ensemble culture? Have there been any changes?

Yes, I think so. For example, in terms of openness to repertoire. There have been changes here over the last 20 to 30 years. But also because there are larger platforms for choirs and therefore more diverse opportunities in terms of style and repertoire. Another aspect that has changed is the distribution of roles within the ensemble. There are no longer necessarily rigid hierarchies, no boss.  

What are your next projects and what do you and your colleagues definitely want to implement? What are your wishes?

There are a few major things in the pipeline (laughs). In the spring, we are launching a very exciting project with Stephan Höllwerth. The cathedral archives contain pieces by Stefano Bernardi, an old court conductor from the 17th century, which have never been published anywhere. Some of them are now being transcribed for us so that we can perform them for the first time in several centuries. We are very much looking forward to it. Another huge project is our first CD production. It is our great wish and requires a lot of work and money. And, of course, we would like to become better known among event organizers. When you are invited to concerts, it takes a lot of the organizational work off your hands and you can concentrate on singing.  

Why produce a CD? 

The CD is relevant for certain target groups, such as concertgoers, but also in certain professional circles and, last but not least, for various prizes and awards. It is a kind of calling card. Although a lot is already happening in the streaming sector, the production of the music itself is the same in terms of quality and, above all, organizational work. 

What did you and your colleagues take away from your studies for this work, and in which areas could there have been more?

We have probably all picked up very different things. We share a very strong vocal background, even though we studied singing in different areas. But I also really appreciate our diversity. For example, we have a pianist who is also studying orchestral conducting. This often gives him a different perspective on the works, and he initially analyzes the pieces analytically—which is a very valuable skill. Through our studies, we have acquired or strengthened very different skills and can now use them collectively, which is a wonderful experience. All these different abilities shape and enrich our special and also individual ensemble sound.

Almost all of you and your ensemble colleagues (also) have a background in education. You teach at Herz-Jesu-Gymnasium, conduct choirs there, and are dedicated to musical youth work. How important is music education for society? And what is the beauty of it?

Music education is the most important thing from many perspectives. From a musician's point of view, I want to still be singing in front of an audience in 20 years' time, not in empty concert halls. In addition, musical education for children is extremely important. Music enables the learning of many skills. These can be social skills through singing together or other personality traits that are promoted in school alongside cognitive skills. Music also has a component of self-reflection and self-discovery, which I believe is a very important aspect. As an ensemble, we also want to work together in an educational capacity. For example, by going to schools with workshops to show children what music can do. Music should be perceived as an important aspect of education. For me, working with children is something incredibly touching. Accompanying children and young people as they grow up, learn new things, is very enriching. 

What conditions could be improved in music education?

In education, it is very important that the pedagogical aspect is not neglected. Of course, everyone wants to become better, clearer, and more effective at making music. It is a constant striving for perfection. I believe that music should always have something that is not quite perfect—something in the moment. Making music is important for children, regardless of perfection and concert-level skills, at all levels of education, starting in elementary school. For music educators and their working conditions, awareness of the social value of music and culture is important. The reduction in hours in schools is already an issue. Teacher training has been cut back repeatedly in recent years. In some cases, children leave elementary school with almost no singing experience. Of course, we would like to see more music lessons in schools, and the natural sciences are also important – I understand that not everything is feasible. But I do believe that the value of culture and music must be established from the ground up in education. The transmission of cultural values has to come from somewhere. 

What advice would you give your younger self?

For us as an ensemble, it was incredibly important to function well as a social group. It would probably be no problem to put together ten similar ensembles that are on the same artistic level in terms of quality. But spending a lot of time together, working well together, and being able to offer criticism is very important and cannot be taken for granted. It requires investing time and effort from the very beginning. Making music together is not only about achieving musical perfection, but also about appreciation and social skills.