A Meeting of Two Masters

This concert is a part of Copenhagen Renaissance Festival, and offers treasures for seasoned concertgoers and an open door for new audiences wishing to experience choral music at the highest level. Under the direction of Sofi Jeannin, Ars Nova Copenhagen unfolds the power of the human voice in works where beauty and spiritual depth are at the centre.

2025 marks two major anniversaries: G.P. da Palestrina, 500 years, and Arvo Pärt, 90 years. Two composers separated by five centuries – yet united in their ability to create music that is both simple and profoundly moving.

Palestrina is celebrated as one of the great masters of vocal polyphony, who in his time as chapel master at the Sistine Chapel combined musical beauty with textual clarity. Arvo Pärt, one of today’s most influential composers, achieves something similar in a language of his own: music that, in all its sobriety, opens a space of reflection and presence.

The programme is conceived as a dialogue, where the voices of Palestrina and Pärt alternately illuminate texts about the Virgin Mary, about love, and the longing for God.

Over the years, Ars Nova Copenhagen has established itself as one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, praised for a sound and quality matched by few. The ensemble has toured in more than 40 countries, maintains an annual concert season in Denmark, and has received several international prizes for its many recordings – including a Grammy Award. Former chief conductors include Bo Holten, Tamas Vetö and Paul Hillier. Today, Ars Nova is led by its chief conductor Sofi Jeannin (SE/FR).