APOLLO 5: A Day In Paradise

APOLLO5 bring stunning voices and infectious energy to a joyful journey through nature and love, from Byrd to Gershwin and beyond.

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.

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.

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.

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’.

APOLLO5
Penelope Appleyard – soprano
Lily Robson – alto
Thomas Mottershead – tenor
Joseph Taylor – tenor
Augustus Perkins Ray – bass

A Day in Paradise – Programme

Though Amaryllis Dance in Green
William Byrd

Sfogava con le stelle
Claudio Monteverdi

Méditation
Francis Pott

Summertime
George & Ira Gershwin, arr. Matt Greenwood

This Marriage
Eric Whitacre

Where All Roses Go
Michael McGlynn

Les Fleurs et les Arbres
Camille Saint-Saëns

Homeward Bound
Marta Keen, arr. Paul Smith

The Ballad of Green Broom
Benjamin Britten

INTERVAL

Strike it up, Tabor
Piers Kennedy

Fly Me to the Moon
Bart Howard, arr. Blake Morgan

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Manning Sherwin & Eric Maschwitz, arr. Jim Clements

The Blue Bird
Charles Villiers Stanford

Follow the Heron
Karine Polwart, arr. Baz Chapman

Wildflowers
Tom Petty, arr. The Wailin’ Jennys / Penelope Appleyard

Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)
The Chords, arr. Penelope Appleyard

Lovely Day
Bill Withers, arr. Blake Morgan

The runtime will be 2 hours, including a 20 minute the interval.

Parking is kindly provided by Ladies' College.