The ensemble

The ensemble has long since established itself as one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles and has toured in more than 40 countries. With concerts in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark and annual tours around the world, the group is today more in demand than ever.

Over the years, Ars Nova has had close collaborations with a wide range of both Danish and international composers, including Pelle Gudmundsens-Holmgreen, Per Nørgård and Arvo Pärt. Most recently, the ensemble has premiered works by, among others: Bent Sørensen, Signe Lykke, Galina Grigorjeva, Caroline Shaw and Heloïse Wagner.

Ars Nova has recorded a long list of albums that have won numerous awards, including a Grammy for The Little Match Girl Passion with music by David Lang. The ensemble’s most recent releases include …and… (Naxos) with music by Arvo Pärt, Julia Wolfe and Caroline Shaw as well as Italian medieval songs from Laudario di Cortona, which was nominated for the 2022 P2 Prize as the release of the year, and Crossing Borders (Dacapo) with music by Carl Nielsen, Niels W. Gade, Vagn Holmboe, Wilhelm Stenhammer and Line Tjørnhøj. Both of the latter two have received top reviews in the international music press. In March 2025, the group released Caroline Shaw’s How to fold the wind, commissioned by Ars Nova in 2020 (Cantaloupe).

Other releases include Creator Spiritus with music by Arvo Pärt and The Christmas Story (Harmonia Mundi) Gallos Y Huesos | Notker with music by the Argentine composer Pablo Ortiz (Orchid Classics) and The Golden Age of Danish Partsongs (Dacapo) with music by a string of the best Danish vocal composers from the past 200 years. In the years 2008-2011, the ensemble recorded Heinrich Schütz’s complete dramatic works for Easter and Christmas – recordings that led to an invitation to be artist in residence at the German Heinrich Schütz Musikfest.

Ars Nova was founded in 1979 and until 1995 was led by the Danish conductor and composer Bo Holten, whose ideas about a repertoire encompassing both early and modern music helped to establish the ensemble’s position both in Denmark and internationally.

Tamás Vetö, who succeeded Holten in 1995, conducted, among other things, a long series of highly acclaimed performances and recordings of new Danish music.

From the beginning of this century until 2023, Ars Nova was led by Paul Hillier, who, with his artistic vision and uncompromising approach, raised the ensemble to the high level it has reached today. In 2023, Paul Hillier was appointed Honorary Conductor.

In 2024, Swedish/French Sofi Jeannin took over as the ensemble’s new Chief Conductor. Jeannin is in demand as a conductor all over the world: in addition to holding the positions of Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and Maitrise de Radio France, she regularly appears as a guest conductor of a wide range of leading European choirs and vocal ensembles.

Ars Nova is part of Tenso – The European Network of Professional Chamber Choirs.