DUTCH A CAPPELLA ENSEMBLE
Contact Quink through their website.
After a successful debut Quink quickly emerged as a unique ensemble of Dutch singers. They are a remarkable group of four Dutch singers whose special style has helped establish their reputation for captivating its audiences with expressive a cappella programs of a varied and beautiful repertoire. The current members of Quink, who are also experienced soloists, find themselves at home in many areas of the a cappella repertoire, performing music from different periods in authentic style. Their vast stock of works includes music from early Renaissance to music of our own time.
The New York Times praised Quink’s collection of Benjamin Britten works saying it “reveals Quink’s elegant phrasing, impeccable intonation and a purity of tone reminiscent of Renaissance madrigals.” Of their rendition of William Byrd’s “Mass for Four Voices,” Gramophone magazine said, “Their performance is astonishingly live because they have a superb range of vocal color — varying their tonal tension, their vibrato, their articulation and so on — and avoid any temptation to exaggerate Byrd’s often playful rhythms.”
Quink’s earliest United States tour was so artistically successful that the group now returns each season. Tours have included residencies at Dartmouth and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and concerts in Spievy Hall, Atlanta, Georgia; Interlochen Center for the Arts, Michigan; Early Music Now, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Houston Friends of Chamber Music, Texas; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Chautauqua Institution, New York and gave its New York debut in Merkin Hall. Later, they appeared at the Cloisters in New York, and performed concerts on both coasts, the Midwest, Alaska and Canada. Quink was invited as special guest at the Iowa Choral Directors’ Convention. The group is regularly invited to internationally-acclaimed music festivals, including Tel Aviv (Israel) and Singapore.
Reviews
“The a cappella vocal group Quink, which sang to a packed house is just as rare a breed not for its funny name, but for its talent and versatility. Hailing from the Netherlands, this quintet exemplifies a handful of scholar-entertainer ensembles, such as the King’s Singers and the Orlando Consort, who can put on a rousing show right after moving you to tears. Quink’s program revealed an ensemble capable of a homogenous blend, yet one that never lost sight of their individual vocal character. Switching to the 20th century, Quink tackled its most substantial offering, Benjamin Britten’s “Hymn to St. Cecilia,” with care and sensitivity, each poignant phrase more doleful than the last. Its subtle, delicate tonal shifts were impeccably executed.”
—The Birmingham News
“The musicians of Quink, a splendid vocal ensemble from the Netherlands rocked easily into and out of the changing rhythms of the texts, raced nimbly through fa-la-las without ever sounding mechanical and dealt with the slings and arrows of love with a delightful blend of joy and despair.”
—The Washington Post
“How do you spell vocal excellence? Many would say it should be Quink.”
—Seattle Times
“The singers rendered each piece with razor-sharp precision, infallible intonation and a blend of timbre and vibrato that transformed them into a magnificently unified composite instrument.”
—Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“They delivered an astonishing array of music with expert vocal technique, a finely calibrated sense of ensemble balance and an infectious sense of musical fun. Each singer is a secure musician in his own right, able to function independently in a complicated web of five part counterpoint. It was the seamless teamwork they showed that most impressed the audience.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer