ROOMFUL OF TEETH

Grammy-winning US experimental vocal ensemble brings a programme of cutting-edge contemporary compositions to the festival on their Czech debut.

Since its formation in Massachusetts in 2009, Roomful of Teeth has become one of the most talked-about and acclaimed vocal groups in the world, working with leading contemporary composers and state-of-the-art technology to change perceptions of what vocal music can be. Employing and subverting techniques ranging from throat-singing to yodelling, as well as exploring the possibilities of speech, their live performances have become known as extraordinary experiences, each one confirming the conviction of the group's artistic director Brad Wells, that 'voices can do so much more.'

Caroline Shaw, the contemporary composer who performed so memorably with Attacca Quartet at Prague Sounds in 2021, is a sometime member of Roomful of Teeth, and wrote the piece for the group that made them famous: Partita for 8 Voices, an extraordinary work calling on the singers to sigh, murmur, whisper, grunt, and yodel, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2013. Roomful of Teeth will perform the Czech premiere of the piece at this concert.

The festival audience can also look forward to Psychedelics, by the New York composer William Britelle, and On Stochastic Wave Behaviour by Leilehua Lanzilotti, a Kanaka Maoli composer and sound artist who was herself a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2022.

Roomful of Teeth have so far released four albums, most recently 2023's critically acclaimed Rough Magic.

See more on: Prague Sounds 2024