Our new album is out now
new album out now
Our new album sublime calculations is now available on all streaming platforms.
Simply click on the button below and pick your preferred platform:
Alternatively, show your appreciation by buying the album on iTunes:
“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence comforts me.”
The story behind the music
As we celebrate Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday in 2025, he remains one of the world’s most performed living composers. Pärt’s music has always been part of SANSARA’s story. Since our very first concert back in December 2013, his music has been a regular feature of our programmes, always bringing a point of contrast and conjuring spell-binding atmospheres.
In 2016, we had the privilege of performing Pärt’s music to the composer himself and his wife Nora. Their kind and encouraging words about our interpretations inspired us to keep exploring Pärt’s music and this recording project is the culmination of that exploration.
Arvo and Nora Pärt with SANSARA’s Artistic Director Tom Herring and former Associate Conductor Benjamin Cunningham, 2016.
This album is built on our ongoing collaboration with the viol consort Fretwork which began in 2022 with a tour built around Pärt’s Stabat Mater.
The decision to record this programme was not an easy one: there are plenty of fantastic recordings of Pärt’s music. But the combination of viols and voices brought something unique to our approach and so - with Pärt’s permission - we have recorded our versions of Stabat Mater and Da pacem Domine, alongside some of Pärt’s well-known a cappella works and Fretwork’s signature arrangements of Fratres and Summa.
Our title ‘sublime calculations’ refers to Pärt’s signature musical language - tintinnabuli - and his idea that “the way to the most intense concentration on the essence of things” is found through reduction.
For Pärt, reaching beyond the everyday in search of the infinite is possible only through reducing his musical form to a raw simplicity.
This process of distillation to find a place of inner peace is surely one of the reasons why Pärt’s music has such broad appeal: it is an invitation to discover a personal feeling of belonging which is at once individual and universal. We are always making decisions or forming opinions based on our own calculations. Pärt’s music encourages us to search for the island within, the sublime home of our shared humanity.
- Tom Herring
Executive Director opportunity
work with us
With over ten years of the highest level of choral music-making behind us and a bold artistic vision at our heart, SANSARA is at a pivotal and exciting moment in its journey.
Our new part-time role of Executive Director will sit at a senior level alongside our co-founder and Artistic Director Tom Herring, working closely with him on the leadership of the organisation.
Watch Virgencita music video
Watch the music video for Virgencita here:
Arvo Pärt singles out now
The three singles from our upcoming album sublime calculations are out now on all streaming platforms.
Use the links below to listen on your preferred platform:
The full album will be released on 5 September 2025.
Members of our Friends Circle have access to the full album in advance of the official release date. Join our chorus of supporters today by heading over to our support page and make a regular donation of as little as £3/month.
Tom appears on Singing for our Minds podcast
Artistic director Tom herring speaks on new podcast
Our Artistic Director Tom Herring recently spoke on a new podcast produced by Together Productions as part of a conversation about the importance of communication in choir leadership.
“Excellence in professional music should be redefined as an aspiration for a level of ‘holistic excellence’ that prioritises the wellbeing of musicians in the knowledge that even greater musical heights will be reached when everyone feels safe, respected and valued.”
Our Wigmore Hall debut
Our Wigmore Hall debut
On Tuesday 13 May, we gave our first performance at London’s iconic Wigmore Hall alongside the unparalleled Abel Selaocoe and Bernhard Schimpelsberger for a night to remember.
Here are some pictures from our rehearsal and a quote from cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason who was in the sell-out audience.
© Ben Tomlin
“It was very special to hear SANSARA with Abel Selaocoe at the Wigmore recently. The resonance and sensitivity of the choir was a beautiful match with cello. Intonation was delightful which made me very happy!”
© Ben Tomlin
New album artwork
We’re excited to reveal the new artwork for our upcoming album, painted by our Artistic Director Tom Herring.
“I wanted to try and capture something close to the mathematical precision which underlies Arvo Pärt’s music. The lines on the painting represent the 9 tracks on the album, each on a sublime piece of musical calculation.”
© Tom Herring
The first single from sublime calculations - Arvo Pärt’s Da pacem Domine will be released on all streaming platforms on Friday 11 April 2025.
Introducing Voicing Loss
Voicing Loss is the next phase in our work to support people experiencing grief and bereavement through music.
We’ve experienced first-hand the remarkable impact ensemble singing can have on those affected by loss.
Our work in this area began during the pandemic in 2020 when people were losing loved ones suddenly and often without opportunities to say goodbye. Funerals, memorials or other ceremonies were also severely limited due to the strict regulations at the time. For most people, these bereavement rituals are vital parts of processing the death of a loved one and as the pandemic wore on, the lack of space for shared expressions of loss soon contributed to a crises in complex and unresolved grief.
You can find out more about the impact of covid on grief and bereavement in this report by the National Centre for Social Research.
Singing together is often a central part of ceremonies that celebrate a person’s life and form a key part of the rituals of loss which were so strongly curtailed during the pandemic. We wanted to do something to respond to this crisis and between 2020-2021, we developed our Rite to Grieve pilot project in partnership with Ellie Harrison and The Grief Series with support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Alongside developing a new community workshop format, we commissioned composer Rebecca Dale to write a new piece for the project. My North was premiered at a commemorative ceremony at the National Covid Memorial Wall in March 2022.
Fast forward to 2024 and we were invited for a Creative Health residency at Britten Pears Arts in Suffolk, where we developed our ideas with a range of practitioners working across music therapy and clinical psychology. You can find out more about the residency here.
The result was Voicing Loss, a new version of our workshop format with an increased focus on the breath as a tool for grounding oneself and helping to calm the onset of strong emotions. Gentle vocal exercises have also been incorporated throughout the workshop to encourage participants to explore using their voices to release tension while also creating a choral soundscape with others in the group, building peer-to-peer connection through sound.
The residency was followed by two pilot sessions at St Elizabeth Hospice and Snape Maltings in September 2024 and we will return to the hospice in March 2025 for a workshop specially designed for the amazing people who work there.
We’re thrilled to share that Voicing Loss has been selected by the Big Give as part of its Arts for Impact campaign.
The campaign will run from 18-25 March and all donations up to £2,500 will be doubled by the Big Give’s match funding. We’ll be sharing details of the campaign on our website and socials in the coming weeks.
★★★★★ review for our latest album
Our latest album in the midst has received a ★★★★★ review from Choir & Organ magazine.
“a thoughtful, moving meditation on sanctuary in a world increasingly in need of safety and security”
Christmas single for Apple Music
This Christmas we’re sharing a brand new single as part of Apple Music’s Classical Carols Covered holiday playlist.
In collaboration with percussionist Delia Stevens, we’ve recorded a new version of Errollyn Wallen’s hauntingly beautiful Peace on Earth for upper voices and vibraphone.
“It’s one of those pieces that stays with you once you’ve heard it, and it feels like it’s always spinning away somewhere in my memory.”
Guest Conductor announcement
We’re thrilled to announce that Ellie Slorach will be conducting our next two concerts.
Our Artistic Director Tom Herring is taking a sabbatical this Autumn and whilst he’s off we have two London performances which will be led by Ellie.
Find out more about Ellie via her website.
On Thursday 7 November, SANSARA will open the 2024 Joy & Devotion festival of Polish sacred music at St James’ Piccadilly. And on Saturday 14 December, the choir will join forces with United Strings of Europe and oud master Basel Saleh to present our Sanctuary & Solidarity programme at the Barbican’s Milton Court.
Head over to our events page to book your tickets now.
New album out now
Our new album in the midst is out now on all streaming platforms.
Recorded in November 2023, in the midst is our latest release in collaboration with United Strings of Europe as part of our wider Sanctuary & Solidarity project.
“Music has the unique capacity to hold cultural memory. Our aim with this recording is to capture a moment when the meaning held in these works feels acutely relevant and important. Our hope is that these recordings will inspire future iterations of these pieces, each performance surfacing in sound the deeply felt emotions enshrined within them. ”
Choir & Organ cover feature
We’re hugely grateful to Choir & Organ for featuring us on the cover of the latest issue of the magazine and an in depth interview with our Artistic Director Tom Herring.
Barbican concert now on sale
Tickets for our performance at Milton Court on Saturday 14 December are now on sale.
We’ll be performing alongside our friends and collaborators United Strings of Europe and oud master Basel Saleh, sharing music from our upcoming release in the midst.
Rothko Chapel Reviews
Rothko CHapel Reviews
Earlier this month, we hit the road with Manchester Collective to tour our joint Rothko Chapel programme
Rothko Chapel at Bridgewater Hall - © Charlotte Wellings
With concerts at London’s Southbank Centre and Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall framing the trip, we also made our debut appearances in Germany and Belgium.
Here’s a round up of how it went down…
“⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
a wonderfully subtle and hushed sense of the numinous. This was singing of an extremely high order, and the close-written choral sounds were quite extraordinary, with bell-clear soprano soli.”
Rothko Chapel at Bridgewater Hall - © Charlotte Wellings
“⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
[an] exquisitely moulded performance”
Rothko Chapel at Erholungshaus, Leverkusen
“⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Today’s concert ticked all the boxes for a great show: clever light set-up, a few introductory remarks, seamless transitions, skilled musicians and, naturally, an exciting programme. The ambitious goal to “invite contemplation” and “create a spiritual space” was gloriously accomplished.”
Rothko Chapel at Bridgewater Hall - © Charlotte Wellings
“Pitching from SANSARA is (pardon the pun) simply off the scale... An utterly remarkable, unforgettable concert. In SANSARA, Manchester Collective has surely found an aesthetic twin.”
Chair of Trustees opportunity
We’re recruiting a new Chair for our Board of Trustees.
Find out more about the process and submit your application by following the link below:
Review: Christmas at Kings Place
“a thrillingly mysterious and profound Christmas alternative”
We’re thrilled to have received a wonderful review of our Christmas concert at Kings Place on 20 December 2023, written by Rachel Halliburton for The Arts Desk. Read in full using the button below:
Our new podcast series
traces of the white rose
The Podcast
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new podcast series, Traces of the White Rose which is released today via University of Oxford Podcasts and available to listen now.
New Record Deal
New Record Deal
We’re thrilled to announce a new three album record deal with our label partners Platoon.
Future recording projects include collaborations with renowned ensembles Fretwork and United Strings of Europe, opening the next exciting chapter of our recording work.
“I’m over the moon to be working with Platoon and can’t wait to build on our existing recordings with three new ambitious projects”