ENSEMBLE GOMBERT
Australia's Outstanding Chamber Choir
for Over 25 Years
About Ensemble Gombert
Founded in 1990, Ensemble Gombert is passionately committed to delighting audiences with choral performances of the highest standard. Ensemble Gombert is noted for its pure intonation and historic approach to choral sound and style. Specialising in a cappella performance of Franco-Flemish music of the High Renaissance, the Ensemble invites you to join them on their musical journey.
Explore the rest of our site to find out where we will be performing next and how to support us.
2019 CONCERTS
This year would have been our 25th year of subscription concerts, but, after a bumper 2018 (during which we gave a total of 19 performances), and owing to the many invitations to perform in other concert series, we have reduced our own series to a single performance—our annual Christmas to Candlemas.
We hope that our regular subscribers will enjoy the variety of times and venues—and the variety of repertoire, our substantial Renaissance specialisation (Josquin, Morales, Tallis, Sheppard, Palestrina, Lassus, Byrd, Victoria, Gabrieli, Gesualdo) supplemented by Monteverdi vespers, Mozart vespers, Haydn Mass, Brahms motets, Britten’s youthful masterpiece, four recent works by Australian composers, and Christmas carols.
"... John O’Donnell demonstrated his commitment to a more authentic and honest historic style, with a uniform pure and balanced sound and a constant tone and level of dynamics... There were many contrasts as the female voices added more intricate ornamentation, and the full choir exuded a power and strength which contrasted with reverence and prayerfulness... the splendid antiphonal responses and detail in the vocal parts was a joy to hear... The final extended AMEN was performed with strength and majesty in a stirring conclusion, a tribute to Monteverdi’s belief that 'The end of all good music is to affect the soul'."
JULIE MCERLAIN, CLASSIC MELBOURNE REVIEW, OCTOBER 3 2019
..."a potent reminder of the choir’s outright distinction in this country’s choral ranks."
CLIVE O'CONNELL, O'CONNELL THE MUSIC, 12 DECEMBER 2017
"The combined voices of Ensemble Gombert catapulted the evening even higher, their well-rehearsed, crisp, precision-timing and attentive modulation of sound showing pleasing reliability."
PAUL SELAR, JUNE 2017
"[The Ensemble's] reputation as the city’s indubitable experts in Renaissance choral music is unchallenged... Melbourne’s finest choral force"
CLIVE O’CONNELL, O’CONNELL THE MUSIC, 2 MAY 2016
"The ensemble performed with nineteen voices... who, thanks to exemplary vocal training, came up with a rich tone that would have easily filled a large cathedral. One could hear clear, vibrato-free voices of flawless intonation and enormous stamina, because the program was performed without the usual organ breaks and yet no signs of fatigue were noticed at all."
GERHARD DEUTSCHMANN, COBURGER TAGEBLATT [GERMANY], 6 OCTOBER 2015
"[F]ine vocal qualities and several flashes of light … a highly appealing purity of sound … pleasing contrasts, from the pristine opening lines to graceful texture alternations between the upper and lower voices … The ensemble easily handled each movement’s technical challenges and displayed a pleasing range of moods from quiet introspection to vigorous exhortation”
JOSEPH SARGENT, SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE, 22 SEPTEMBER 2009
“Cohesion and master control were the order of the day, with a consistently beautiful choral texture overriding the considerable musical challenges... Melbourne has a world-class ensemble.”
XENIA HANUSIAK, HERALD-SUN [MELBOURNE], 21 DECEMBER 2005
“Is it possible to over-praise? … [T]here have been few more absorbing samples of live choral work in my experience … For sheer purity of intonation and fluidity of texture this was a memorable performance … Even the most highly publicised visitors rarely produce music-making of this calibre”
CLIVE O’CONNELL, THE AGE [MELBOURNE] MONDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 1995
DONATING TO ENSEMBLE GOMBERT
How You Can Help
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of our donors. All donations made to the Ensemble Gombert Donations Fund go to support the artistic aims of our organisation, and none is ever used for administrative costs, nor is distributed to the members. In order for us to pursue our musical endeavours, we rely heavily on your support.
Click the button below for more information on how donations are used to support the choir.
