
APOLLO5: A Day In Paradise
19th Sept | 19:30 | St Stephen's Church
£15/Free U18
A first visit to the island from this internationally acclaimed quintet, bringing with them stunning voices and infectious energy with a programme that journey’s through nature and love, from Byrd to Gershwin and beyond. This group tours worldwide and is regularly heard on Radio 3, instantly recognisable for their incredible blend and accuracy. Truly perfection!
This programme is a lot of fun and designed to suit all ages and interests.
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APOLLO5 is one of Britain’s most dynamic small vocal ensembles, renowned for its ability to connect intimately with audiences while producing a rich, vibrant and versatile sound. Formed in London in 2011 and part of The VOCES8 Foundation, the critically acclaimed a cappella quintet brings together a soprano, mezzo‑soprano, two tenors and a bass, and draws on more than five centuries of music in programmes that move effortlessly between Renaissance and classical repertoire, folk traditions, jazz and pop.
Touring regularly across Europe and North America, APOLLO5 has appeared at leading venues including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Sinfonia Smith Square, the Barbican Centre, Oper Frankfurt, and Philharmonie Luxembourg. Recent highlights include performances at the Three Choirs Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and York Early Music Festival, alongside North American tours taking in Memphis, Albuquerque (for SWACDA) and Honolulu. The ensemble’s distinctive sound and programming have made them frequent guests on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, and the group also receive airplay on Classic FM, Magic Classical and NTS Radio. APOLLO5 occasionally appears alongside VOCES8 in concerts and media performances, with both groups forming the core of The VOCES8 Foundation Choir.
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The group’s growing discography reflects both its stylistic range and its commitment to storytelling through sound. APOLLO5 has released eight solo studio albums. Their most recent release, Crossings (2026), is a musical meditation on the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route. Other albums include Anam (2025), a Gaelic-inspired collection, and Haven (2023), which explores music by troubled, displaced and persecuted composers and features William Byrd’s complete Mass for Five Voices. Where All Roses Go (2021) and O Radiant Dawn (2019) both reached the top five of the UK Classical Charts, while the winter album A Deep But Dazzling Darkness (2021) was picked as one of The Observer’s best classical Christmas albums of the year. Invocations (2023), a collaboration with composer‑arranger Fraser Wilson, showcases the ensemble’s flair for contemporary writing and bespoke arrangements. Draw Near, released in 2026 and a collaboration with American composer Alexander Pierce Hill, presents a new five‑part setting of the Greek Orthodox liturgy.
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During the COVID‑19 pandemic APOLLO5 played a central role in LIVE From London, The VOCES8 Foundation’s award‑winning digital festival series, helping to launch a platform that has since delivered more than ten online seasons and broadcast over 100 concerts, selling over 250,000 tickets in more than 183 territories and raising over £1.5 million to support over 500 arts professionals on and off screen. The ensemble continues to feature prominently in LIVE From London broadcasts and recordings, reaching global audiences through beautifully filmed performances.
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Education and outreach sit at the heart of APOLLO5’s work. As part of The VOCES8 Foundation, the ensemble collaborates with CEO Paul Smith and affiliated groups to deliver transformative workshops, masterclasses and concerts to over 40,000 participants each year across the UK, Europe and the USA. In France, APOLLO5 has worked with thousands of singers through Association Sing’In projects, performing in unique spaces from football stadiums and circuses to royal abbeys. Much of their UK education activity is based at the VOCES8 Centre at St Anne & St Agnes Church in central London, where they lead children’s concerts, residencies and long‑term projects that champion ‘music education for all’.
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APOLLO5
Penelope Appleyard – soprano
Lily Robson – alto
Thomas Mottershead – tenor
Joseph Taylor – tenor
Augustus Perkins Ray – bass​
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Programme
Though Amaryllis Dance in Green
Sfogava con le stelle
Méditation
Summertime
This Marriage
Where All Roses Go
Les Fleurs et les Arbres
Homeward Bound
The Ballad of Green Broom
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INTERVAL
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Strike it up, Tabor
Fly Me to the Moon
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
The Blue Bird
Follow the Heron
Wildflowers
Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)
Lovely Day
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William Byrd
Claudio Monteverdi
Francis Pott
George & Ira Gershwin, arr. Matt Greenwood
Eric Whitacre
Michael McGlynn
Camille Saint-Saëns
Marta Keen, arr. Paul Smith
Benjamin Britten
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Piers Kennedy
Bart Howard, arr. Blake Morgan
Manning Sherwin & Eric Maschwitz, arr. Jim Clements
Charles Villiers Stanford
Karine Polwart, arr. Baz Chapman
Tom Petty, arr. The Wailin’ Jennys / Penelope Appleyard
The Chords, arr. Penelope Appleyard
Bill Withers, arr. Blake Morgan
The runtime will be 2 hours, including a 20 minute interval.
Parking is in St Joseph's Church car park just across the road