Applications open for Coro di Santo Spirito
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici
Vox Medicea records its debut album with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, to be released on the acclaimed Arcana label.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici brings together a remarkable collection of rare and unknown choral works from Florence during the time of the Medici - an era synonymous with beauty, creativity and some of the greatest artists the world has ever known.
Featuring works from the 13th century up to the 17th century Granducato, this unique debut album celebrates the spectacular Florentine choral tradition, including works likely unheard for centuries, alongside a special commission from composer Nico Muhly.
November 2026
Release of the album’s debut single.
March 2027
Release of Vox Medicea’s debut album, Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici, accompanied by a Gala launch concert marking a defining moment for the ensemble and presenting this extraordinary repertoire to audiences worldwide.
sound
on
sound
off
debut
album
Vox Medicea
Next Events
Christmas Weekend
Christmas Weekend
Info and tickets
Tickets go on sale September 15, 2026.
For more information, contact
info@newgenerationfoundation.org.
Programme
Friday December 4th
Masterclass – Internationally acclaimed soprano Dame Emma Kirkby leads a public masterclass with artists of Vox Medicea and Mascarade Opera.
Saturday December 5th
A Christmas Celebration! Vox Medicea and Mascarade Opera join forces for a grand musical celebration of the season, featuring sacred works from across the centuries including celebrated arias, audience carols and rare choral works from our upcoming album.
Sunday December 6th
Sung Mass - 11am, Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano. Haydn St. Nicholas Mass performed liturgically, along with motets for Advent. Vox Medicea with artists of Mascarade Opera.
Florence Choral Course at the Basilica di Santo Spirito
Florence Choral Course at the Basilica di Santo Spirito
Info
Ecce Beatam Lucem
Ecce Beatam Lucem
Info
Programme
On Saturday, 11 July at 7:00 pm, the Oratorio di San Filippo Neri in Piazza San Firenze will host Ecce Beatam Lucem, the final concert of the Florence Choral Course.
The programme centres on Alessandro Striggio’s monumental 40-part motet Ecce Beatam Lucem, one of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. Composed in the sixteenth century for five distinct choirs, the work stands as a pinnacle of European polychoral writing—an achievement of exceptional sonic grandeur and compositional brilliance that continues to astonish audiences today.
Alongside this remarkable work, participants of the Florence Choral Course will perform a selection of masterpieces from the Italian Renaissance choral repertoire, offering audiences a journey through the rich musical, artistic, and spiritual heritage of one of the most remarkable periods in music history.
The culmination of an intensive programme of study and performance, the concert brings together young singers from around the world in a celebration of the excellence of the Italian choral tradition in the heart of Florence.
Free admission, subject to venue capacity.
St Peter’s Basilica, Rome
St Peter’s Basilica, Rome
Info
Programme
Special performance for a private wedding convalidation ceremony in the Cappella del Coro, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.
Tomás Luis da Victoria Festival
Tomás Luis da Victoria Festival
Info
Programme
Vox Medicea performs at the Tomás Luis de Victoria Festival in Ávila, Spain. A special series of concerts celebrating 500 years since the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2025
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2025
Info
Programme
The New Generation Festival
presents
SACRED MASTERPIECES OF THE MEDICI
28 - 30 November 2025
An exclusive weekend celebrating rediscovered masterpieces from the time of the Medici rulers, brought to new life by the work of the Sacred Music Programme (SMP), and performed by our vocal ensemble Vox Medicea in collaboration with the award-winning English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble.This year, we are proud to announce the world premiere of a specially commissioned work by celebrated composer Nico Muhly, based on a 16th-century Florentine motet recently rediscovered by the SMP.We are also delighted to be welcoming back multi-recording artist and early music pioneer, soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, for an open masterclass with our soloists. Guests will enjoy privileged access to some of Florence's most spectacular and historic venues, experiencing the transcendent sound of Renaissance masterpieces in the breathtaking spaces for which they were originally conceived. Performances will be held at the churches of Santa Felicita and Santi Michele e Gaetano. The weekend includes exceptional events and a Medici Gala Dinner, offering an unforgettable synthesis of the music and art of one of the world's most beautiful cities.
Presented and most generously supported by
The SMP ‘GONFALONIERI’:
Alexandra Munroe
Katherine Zock
Nico Muhly's commission is generously sponsored by Charles Klein
Dame Emma Kirkby masterclass is generously sponsored by Kim & Elaine Leeper
60 PLACES ONLY
To reserve your place, a minimum recommended donation of €925 per person is requested.
This can be made as a tax-deductible donation from the US, UK, and all EU countries.
Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era at the Medici Church of Santa Felicita, including the world premiere of O Adoranda Trinitas, specially commissioned from Nico Muhly and inspired by a rediscovered 16th-century Florentine work, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby and a Medici Mass at Santi Michele e Gaetano.
A Festival Tribute for the 2025 Jubilee
A Festival Tribute for the 2025 Jubilee
Info
Programme
Opening concert of the Rome Chamber Music Festival to mark the 2025 Jubilee.
Vox Medicea headlines the Rome Chamber Music Festival at the Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome. A programme of rare Florentine works celebrating the Jubilee Year, with special reference to the 500th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Flores Apparuerunt: Sounds of the transcendent
Flores Apparuerunt: Sounds of the transcendent
Info
Programme
Music to free the mind and cleanse the soul. Vox Medicea, together with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, directed by Mark Spyropoulos, present a programme of transcendental choral works from the pioneering research of the Sacred Music Programme. Our Festival concludes in the ancient monastery of San Francesco high up in the Fiesole hills, followed by lunch on the spectacular terraces overlooking the most beautiful city in the world.
The Sacred Music Programme is dedicated to the research and rediscovery of Florentine choral music from the time of the Medici rulers. Examining the vast archival collections of Florence and further afield, the programme aims to rediscover the choral music of Renaissance Florence and revive it, transcribing forgotten manuscripts of sacred polyphony and bringing them to live professional performance.
Find out more about this and other events programmed as part of this year's New Generation Festival in Florence here:
Vox Medicea performs at the Convento di San Francesco di Fiesole as part of the New Generation Festival, with a Sung Mass in Fiesole Cathedral.
Unto us a child is born
Unto us a child is born
Info
Programme
An Enchanting Christmas Concert at the Church of Ognissanti, Florence
Thursday 12 December 2024, 6pm
Set in the magnificent Church of Ognissanti, this special evening will feature the artists currently on the Mascarade Opera programme, Vox Medicea under the direction of Mark Spyropoulos, and the orchestra and choir I Musici del Gran Principe led by Maestro Samuele Lastrucci.
Cast and Programme
Priya Pariyachart, Soprano
Aistė Benkauskaitė, Mezzo-soprano
Garrett Evers, Tenor
Charles Buttigieg, Baritone
Ferdinand Muradyan, Bass
Samuele Piccinini, Répétiteur
Peter Smith, Répétiteur
Programme:
Messiah
Overture
G.F. Handel
Messiah
Comfort Ye…. Ev’ry Valley
G.F. Handel
Exsultate Jubilate
Alleluja
W.A.Mozart
Weihnacht’s Oratorio
Bereite dich Zion
J.S.Bach
Messiah
Thus saith the Lord
G.F. Handel
Messiah
Why do the Nations
G.F. Handel
Gloria
Laudamus te
A.Vivaldi
Petite messe Solennelle
Domine Deus
G.Rossini
Petite messe Solennelle
Quoniam
G.Rossini
Messiah
Let the Bright Seraphim
G.F. Handel
Weihnacht’s Oratorio
Große Herr
J.S.Bach
Messiah
He shall feed His flock
G.F. Handel
Messe di Gloria
Gratias Agimus tibi
G.Puccini
Adeste Fideles
Traditional
Messiah
Hallelujah Chorus
G.F. Handel
Vox Medicea presents a selection of Christmas motets, old and new, at the Mascarade Opera Christmas Concert in collaboration with the Artists of Mascarade Opera at the Chiesa di San Salvatore in Ognissanti.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2024
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Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2024
Info
Programme
Annual festival of Florentine sacred music.
Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including music unheard for centuries, with performances in the Sacresty of the Basilica di Santo Spirito, Palazzo Pitti, and a Medici Mass at Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with soprano Dame Emma Kirkby.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2023
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2023
Info
Programme
Annual festival of Florentine sacred music.
Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including pieces unheard for centuries, with performances at the Palazzo Pitti and Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with soprano Dame Emma Kirkby.
Palazzo Vecchio
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Palazzo Vecchio
Info
Programme
Inaugural concert in the Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, marking the 500th anniversary of the birth of Eleonora di Toledo, on behalf of the Comune di Firenze.
debut Album
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici
Vox Medicea records its debut album with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, to be released on the acclaimed Arcana label.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici brings together a remarkable collection of rare and unknown choral works from Florence during the time of the Medici - an era synonymous with beauty, creativity and some of the greatest artists the world has ever known.
Featuring works from the 13th century up to the 17th century Granducato, this unique debut album celebrates the spectacular Florentine choral tradition, including works likely unheard for centuries, alongside a special commission from composer Nico Muhly.
Album Preview Concert
August 2026
An exclusive Album Preview event at the Church of Santi Michele e Gaetano offers invited guests an exclusive opportunity to hear works from the album ahead of its release.
March 2027
Release of Vox Medicea’s debut album, Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici, accompanied by a Gala launch concert marking a defining moment for the ensemble and presenting this extraordinary repertoire to audiences worldwide.
About Vox
Research
research
Florence of the 15th and 16th centuries is renowned for its humanistic and artistic achievements.
The artists of this city read like a roll call of some of the greatest artists in history, however unlike its rivals Rome and Venice, the musical heritage of Florence’s sacred composers remain comparatively overlooked.
Since its inception in 2018, our research has examined and transcribed over one hundred motets, alongside numerous mass settings, Magnificats, psalms, cantatas and laude, many of which have likely remained unheard for centuries.
To date we have investigated and mapped musical manuscripts held in archives including the Archivio di Stato di Firenze, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, the Opera del Duomo Museum, and other collections across Italy and Europe, preparing these works for modern performance through transcription and historical contextualisation.
Artists
Mark Spyropoulos
Mark Spyropoulos read Music at Trinity College Dublin and trained as a singer in London at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under Laura Sarti, and the young singers programme English National Opera. He has performed with several ensembles in the UK and France including with William Christie at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Opera Holland Park, the Philharmonia Chorus and the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court.
In 2015 he became the first British singer to join the Papal Choir of the Sistine Chapel.With the Sistina, Mark has recorded four albums with Deutsche Grammophon including several world-première recordings, winning the Echo Klassik Prize for Cantate Domino in 2015.
He has toured extensively across Europe, South Korea, the USA and Canada, appearing as both a chorister and a soloist. Mark has also made several TV and radio appearances discussing choral music, including interviews on RAI, Sky Arts, CBS 60 Minutes, Fox News, BBC Breakfast, the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 3's 'In Tune'.
He has lectured in London at the China Exchange and at Eton College in addition to contributing to articles for the Independent on Sunday, Early Music Today, The Tablet, The Guardian and The Florentine.
In 2020 he starred in the BBC documentary Inside the Vatican.
In November 2018, Mark established the Music Programme at the Medici Archive Project in Florence with a mission to rediscover and perform sacred works from the vast archives of Medici Florence, before moving to the New Generation Foundation to launch the Sacred Music Programme.
To facilitate this, he founded Vox Medicea in 2020, a bespoke choir of Renaissance specialists with the sole purpose of reviving this forgotten repertoire.As Director of Vox Medicea, Mark has performed concerts in London, an extended broadcast feature for CBS Sunday Morning and a major public concert in the Salone dei Cinquecento of the Palazzo Vecchio on behalf of the Comune di Firenze. Since 2023 the choir has performed at the Ávila Festival, Rome Chamber Music Festival, St Peter’s Basilica, Rome and basilicas across Florence. In July 2022, he launched the Florence Choral Course, offering advanced choral training in the music of the Italian Renaissance. In 2023 he launched the ‘Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici’ festival weekend to celebrate and showcase the choral heritage of Florence.
In 2025 he launched the Coro di Santo Spirito, offering choral scholarships to young singers based in Florence to sing regular services at the Basilica di Santo Spirito.
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble is a virtuoso period instrument group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name. In addition to its recital work, the ensemble collaborates with leading vocal ensembles such as I Fagiolini, The Tallis Scholars, Alamire, Resurgam Choir, The Marian Consort, Westminster Cathedral Choir & Vox Medicea.
They also feature regularly at major UK & International music festivals, previously visiting Canada, Russia, Israel, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Ireland and the USA - debuting in 2025 at the Boston Early Music Festival with The Tallis Scholars. ECSE is also in demand as a recording ensemble, contributing to Gramophone Award-winning discs such as The Spy’s Choirbook (Obsidian) 2015, and the monumental Striggio mass in 40 parts — Missa ecco si beato giorno — with I Fagiolini, winning the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2011 and the Diapason d’Or.
ECSE celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018 with a solo CD on the Resonus label entitled Music for Windy Instruments: Sounds from the Court of James I.
ECSE’s 30th anniversary year (2023) saw a new collaborative CD with the Irish vocal ensemble Resurgam of music by Thomas Weelkes - Gentleman Extraordinary (Resonus Classics) and was awarded Editor’s Choice - Gramophone Magazine (Jan 2024) “….ECSE's playing is so rich, warm & expressive that they continually drew my attention”.
Last year (2025) saw ECSE embark on a new collaboration with the choir of HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court in a recording of sacred music by Orlando Gibbons followed to mark his 400th year of his death. The current year, 2026 is another busy year with tours to Galway (Resurgam) & Florence (Vox Medicea) including ECSE returning to co-direct on the Florence Choral Course. The year also sports several UK performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with the renowned, I Fagiolini including a new recording due for release on 4th September (Coro Records).
The project culminates in Venice in November with Martin Randall Travel for performances of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo & Vespers in Scuola Grande Di San Rocco & Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa die Frari respectively to mark I Fagiolini's 40th anniversary year.
In August 2026, ECSE team up again with the wonderful Vox Medicea in Florence for a new and exciting recording on the prestigious Arcana label entitled - Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici, bringing together a vast array of works, mostly unheard for centuries.
Vox Medicea
Vox Medicea is a male voice ensemble dedicated to the music of Medici era Florence and wider Renaissance Italy. Based in Florence it is comprised of outstanding specialist singers drawn from Italy and across Europe.
Vox Medicea
Vox Medicea
Vox Medicea is a professional male-voice ensemble dedicated to the performance, recording and revival of rare and forgotten works of sacred music from Florence during the time of the Medici.
Bringing together leading specialists from Italy and across Europe, the choir combines historical scholarship with exceptional artistry to bring masterpieces of the Florentine Renaissance back to life. Featured on international stages, Vox Medicea presents concerts ranging from intimate a cappella programmes to grand polychoral works with period instruments, offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience this breathtaking musical heritage.
The Sacred Music Programme begins as a research initiative launched in 2018 by Mark Spyropoulos in collaboration with musicologist Dr Giordano Mastrocola at the Medici Archive Project in Florence, in order to explore and examine primary source material housed in the vast archival collections in Florence and across Europe.
Vox Medicea is founded as a professional male-voice ensemble in order to trial newly rediscovered and transcribed sixteenth century Florentine sacred works, giving its first performance in London with a private showcase of five motets.
Vox Medicea is featured in a special presentation for CBS Sunday Morning, recorded in September 2020 and broadcast on Easter Sunday 2021.
Vox Medicea establishes the Florence Choral Course, an educational programme dedicated to choral training and Renaissance repertoire.
Inaugural public performance - Vox Medicea is selected by the Comune di Firenze to perform a special concert in the historic Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Eleonora di Toledo.
Vox Medicea establishes the annual Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici Gala weekend. A three day weekend featuring concerts, tours, receptions, lectures, Masterclasses, a Gala concert and sung ‘Medici Mass’, to promote and celebrate the sacred music of Florence.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2023 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including pieces unheard for centuries, with performances at the Palazzo Pitti and Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2024 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including music unheard for centuries, with performances in the Sacresty of the Basilica di Santo Spirito, Palazzo Pitti, and a Medici Mass at Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby.
Vox Medicea performs at the Convento di San Francesco di Fiesole, as part of the New Generation Festival, along with a ‘Medici Mass’ at Fiesole Cathedral.
Vox Medicea headlines the Rome Chamber Music Festival at the Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome.
Vox Medicea establishes the Coro di Santo Spirito, an educational initiative providing choral scholarships for young singers based in Florence, to sing monthly services at the Basilica di Santo Spirito.
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2025 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era at the Medici Church of Santa Felicita, including the world premiere of O Adoranda Trinitas, specially commissioned from Nico Muhly, inspired by a rediscovered 16th-century Florentine work, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby and a ‘Medici Mass’ at Santi Michele e Gaetano.
Vox Medicea performs at the Tomás Luis da Victoria Festival in Ávila, Spain.
Vox Medicea records its debut album.
Members of Vox Medicea and the Coro di Santo Spirito combine to present a programme of 15th and 16th century works for the Renaissance lecture series at the Basilica di Santo Spirito.
A Christmas Celebration! Vox Medicea in collaboration with artists of Mascarade Opera will present a weekend of events on the theme of Christmas, including a Gala concert featuring oratorio arias, a liturgical performance of Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass and works from our upcoming album.
Vox Medicea releases its debut album.
Education
Florence
Choral
Course
The course
The Florence Choral Course is an annual summer programme offering advanced choral training for aspiring young singers in the music of the Italian Renaissance.
Info
Thanks to our supporters, it is made entirely free for all participants under thirty years old.
Selected singers from all over the world are invited to Florence for an intensive week of rehearsals, workshops, individual singing lessons, tours, lectures and masterclasses with world famous practitioners, including soprano Dame Emma Kirkby and theorbist Francesco Romano.
Recent years have seen the Course expand to include parallel courses for sackbuts and cornetts led by Adrian France of the celebrated English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, and lutes and theorbos, led by Maestro Francesco Romano.
The week culminates in concerts and liturgical performances in some of Florence’s most iconic buildings, including Palazzo Tornabuoni, and the Basilicas of Santissima Annunciata, Santa Maria Novella and Santo Spirito.
For singers over 30, we offer a limited number of places for a fee of €1000 for the week.
Applications
Applications for the 2027 summer programme will open on 1st January 2027.
Coro di
santo
Spirito
Coro di santo spirito
In collaboration with Florence’s historic Basilica di Santo Spirito and Mascarade Opera, this initiative establishes the Choir of Santo Spirito, awarding annual choral scholarships to twelve specially selected young singers based in Florence.
Info
Through the programme, singers will receive training and performance opportunities at Mascarade Opera, developing essential ensemble, vocal and musicianship skills, while contributing to the community of Santo Spirito in the form of a monthly sung service at the Basilica.
Applications
Applications are now open for the 2026–2027 season of the Coro di Santo Spirito, an initiative of Vox Medicea in collaboration with the Basilica di Santo Spirito and Mascarade Opera.
The programme is seeking 12 young singers aged 18–26 based in Florence or the surrounding area, offering professional vocal, ensemble and musicianship training, performance opportunities with Mascarade Opera and at Santo Spirito, sacred and polyphonic repertoire, and participation in the Basilica’s monthly sung Sunday Mass.
Selected singers will receive €1,000 annual compensation and a professional contract.
Auditions will take place on 3 October 2026 at the New Generation Foundation, Via Il Prato 56, Florence. Applications must be submitted by 30 September 2026 and include personal details, a detailed CV with voice type and artistic experience, and a direct link to a video of one complete opera.
For full programme information, eligibility criteria and application details, download the Coro di Santo Spirito 2026–2027 brochure.
Support
Support vox medicea
Your generosity will help rediscover, revive, and restore the music of the Medici, bringing centuries of beauty back to life through world-class research, training, and performance.
The New Generation Foundation
The New Generation Foundation offers a rare opportunity — not simply to support the arts, but to shape cultural history.
From training the stars of tomorrow, to restoring lost musical masterpieces, and bringing festivals to new audiences, your generosity funds the moments that stay with people long after the curtain falls. Find out how you can get involved and help us create something extraordinary.
Contact
For enquiries about the debut album Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici, its premiere events, or Vox Medicea and its activities, please use the form below. A member of our team will respond as promptly as possible.
Publicity
For all publicity enquiries, please contact Elisa Nello at en@newgenerationfoundation.com.
bookings
Bookings: All tour and performance enquiries should be directed to KD Schmid at olivia.al-slaiman@kdschmid.de.