‘Classical music on your doorstep doesn’t get much better than this.’ (Argus, January 2011)
The Kantanti Ensemble is a group of young professional musicians founded by the conductor Lee Reynolds, which gives performances throughout the year. The finest young singers and instrumentalists are drawn together from an area that covers London, Sussex and Kent, and stretches as far as Oxford in the west and further north to Birmingham.
The group was formed in August 2009 on a cross-channel ferry from St Malo to Portsmouth during a concert tour of Brittany – there was a shared desire among the young musicians on the tour to make some really high-class concerts happen, and to create a performance group with a personality – something vibrant, energetic and professional.
‘Some of the finest instrumental playing possible.’ (Sussex Express, August 2010)
The Ensemble’s inaugural concert series (Handel Messiah) took place in December 2009, and since then the group has gone from strength to strength, performing works including Fauré Requiem and J.S. Bach St John Passion to enthusiastic, growing audiences, and giving two regional premieres of Lotti’s Requiem to great critical acclaim in January 2011.
‘A performance which at least equalled, if not bettered, the only recording.’ (Sussex Express, January 2011)
The group made its London debut in August 2010, and in January 2011 launched the new Kantanti Soloists series: chamber recitals programmed to complement the main ensemble performances. Plans for the future include music education work and ventures into theatre repertoire. The Ensemble’s activity is always led by the main concert programming, and the group will be tackling more adventurous repertoire and continuing to bring in top young international soloists.
‘... another masterpiece performance from Kantanti ... they held the audience spellbound.’ (Sussex Express, April 2011)
