Tenebrae is a professional chamber choir formed and founded by King's Singers alum Nigel Short. It has established itself as a leading international choir through its performances, active touring schedule, and growing recording catalog, as well as educational and community engagement programs.

Tenebrae was conceived by Short while he was a member of the King's Singers; he was looking for a group with more flexibility for performing. Tenebrae was founded in 2001 by Short and Barbara Pollock, with Short serving as the artistic director since its founding. Tenebrae's premiere came in London in 2001, with a performance of Short's The Dream of Herod. Short's work was part of Tenebrae's debut recording, which came shortly after its formation. A unique aspect of Tenebrae's performances is in performing only in candlelight and that the choir moves about the venue during its appearances. The difficulty of which led to the lighting -- as it were -- being taken care of in-house by Short and Tenebrae. The group's repertoire covers choral music from the Renaissance through newly commissioned works by such composers as Judith Bingham, Owain Park, and Roderick Williams, the first of which, Path of Miracles by Joby Talbot, came in 2005.

Tenebrae has toured widely internationally and is very active in the U.K., where it has performed with other leading ensembles, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, and the Academy of Ancient Music. Tenebrae's 2012 recording of Victoria's Requiem Mass of 1605 earned a Best Choral Performance Award from BBC Music Magazine, capturing that prize again for 2016's Brahms, Bruckner: Motets. Tenebrae also earned its first Grammy nomination in 2016 for the album Music of the Spheres on the Bene Arte imprint.

In 2017, Tenebrae launched an annual Holy Week Festival at St. John's Smith Square. Each year this festival offers performances from Tenebrae as well as other esteemed ensembles and soloists such as the BBC Singers, Voces8, and violinist Lana Trotovsek. Tenebrae has established an Associate Artist program, an educational and mentorship program for professional singers still early in their careers, in addition other workshops and programs for amateur musicians, ensembles, and students at disadvantaged schools. In 2018, the group issued three albums, including A Walk with Ivor Gurney with the Aurora Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, and narrator Simon Callow. Returning in 2022, Tenebrae was heard on the albums When Sleep Comes with saxophonist Christian Forshaw and the Christmas album In Winter's House; like much of its recording catalog, these albums were issued on the Signum Classics label. ~ Keith Finke & Chris True

Saxophonist Christian Forshaw is one of Britain's top composer-performers. He is also a noted educator.

Forshaw was born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and grew up there. At first, he played the clarinet because, he was told the clarinet was a classical instrument and the saxophone pertained to jazz. Also, he encountered the attitude that a musician needed to play the clarinet before taking up the saxophone, an idea he calls completely misinformed. When he was 19, Forshaw moved to London to enter the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. At around this time, he had several key formative experiences. First, he worked with the hard-to-classify American composer Moondog, who sold pieces on the streets of New York dressed in a Viking costume and later moved to Germany. Second, he heard the classical saxophonist John Harle. Finally, he played with progressive rock composer and producer Brian Eno, learning from him the importance of developing his own musical identity. Forshaw graduated from the Guildhall School in 1995. In 2002, he was hired as a professor of saxophone by the school, and he remains in that position.

Forshaw performed with various leading orchestral ensembles, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, and the Scottish Ensemble, with which he has performed Richard Rodney Bennett's Concerto for alto saxophone and strings multiple times. He also performed and toured with smaller groups, including the Michael Nyman Band, Endymion, and the Composers Ensemble. He is a member of the chamber group Notes Inégales. Forshaw attracted the attention of recording companies with his debut album, Sanctuary, released on the Quartz label, which mixed medieval music, contemporary compositions, and works by Forshaw himself. He was offered a four-album deal by the Sony/BMG conglomerate but turned it down in favor of forming his own label, Integra Records, where he would have complete control. He released four albums on that label. The 2010s and 2020s saw Forshaw contribute compositions to releases by the vocal groups Voces8 and Tenebrae and to films, including Ridley Scott's The Last Duel. In 2022, Forshaw was heard with Tenebrae on the album When Sleep Comes on Signum Classics. ~ James Manheim

Versatile countertenor and conductor Nigel Short is best known as the artistic director and founder of the a cappella chamber choir Tenebrae. Short launched his career as a soloist in opera and oratorio, while also singing in various choirs, including the Tallis Scholars and the King's Singers.

Short was born in Solihull, England, on August 16, 1965. As a youth, he sang as a chorister at Solihull Parish Church and later enrolled at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied voice and piano. Short developed an interest in sacred music, from pre-Renaissance to modern, and following his time at the Royal College, performed with several choral ensembles, including the choirs of Westminster Abbey and Cathedral, the Tallis Scholars, and the King's Consort. He later began appearing in oratorios and operas, including with Opera North and the English National Opera. In 1994, he joined the King's Singers, where he made a number of highly successful performances and recordings. Among these recordings are Nightsong, Renaissance, and Circle of Life, for which the group received a Grammy nomination. He remained with the King's Singers until 2000.

During his time with the King's Singers, Short envisioned forming a larger group to perform sacred music from the Renaissance to the 21st century. In 2001, Short and Barbara Pollock founded Tenebrae; Short has served as the artistic director since its founding. Tenebrae's premiere featured Short's composition The Dream of Herod (2002), for baritone, organ, and choir. The work was issued in 2003 by Signum, along with Christmas and traditional songs, and works by Peter Wishart, Howells, Gruber, and others. The group's repertoire encompasses sacred music from Hildegard von Bingen to John Tavener, traditional and Christmas songs, as well as music for chorus and orchestra by Mozart, Berlioz, Poulenc, and others. In such repertory, Short and Tenebrae have performed and recorded with ensembles including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the London Symphony Orchestra. Short commissioned composer Joby Talbot to write Path of Miracles, which Tenebrae premiered with great success in 2005. He has taken the ensemble on tour throughout Europe and the U.S.

Throughout his career, Short has recorded for many labels, including EMI, RCA, LSO Live, Signum, and Warner Classics. Together, Short and Tenebrae have recorded over 30 albums. Among these are What Sweeter Music: Songs & Carols for Christmas from 2009, Music of the Spheres from 2016, which earned a 2017 Grammy nomination, and in 2018, A Walk with Ivor Gurney. ~ Keith Finke & Robert Cummings